Silver Tetrobol
Ancient Greece - Rhodes, c. 175-170 BC
Obv: Head of Helios, 3/4 to right
Rev: Rose, bud on right
Ref: SNG Keckman 794, Sear G5092
15 mm, 2.61 gm
Ex Sitichoro Horde (1968)
Superb Mint State – Rare, a beautiful example of classical Greek medallic art.
Helios (the Sun God) was the patron god of the island/city of Rhodes. The Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, was an enormous bronze statue of Helios positioned at the harbor of Rhodes. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 226 BC, about 50 years before this coin was minted.
Helios was personified as a handsome god crowned with the shining aureole of the Sun, who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. Homer described Helios's chariot as drawn by solar steeds, later Pindar described it as drawn by ''fire-darting steeds''. Still later, the horses were given fiery names: Pyrois, Aeos, Aethon, and Phlegon.