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The Prospero Collection of Ancient Greek Coins. BLACK SEA REGION. Pantikapaion (c.340-325 B.C.), Gold Stater, 9.10g,. Head of bearded Pan, with a goat’s ear, facing to left, wearing an ivy-wreath. Rev. Π-A-N , winged griffin, standing to left, with its horned head facing, holding a spear in its jaws, its right forepaw raised, a large stalk of wheat below on which the griffin stands (Anokhin 109; SNG BM Black Sea 867; Kraay - Hirmer pl. 142, 440; Gulbenkian 589). A spectacular type of great beauty, lustrous, extremely fine, one of the most desirable of all ancient Greek gold co ins. Purchased from Spink & Son Ltd., London, 22 April 1986 This superb coin is one of the most admired of all ancient Greek gold issues. The head of Pan on the obverse possesses great power and beauty. The griffin on the reverse, the fabled guardian of the gold mines of the Scythians, is a fitting mythical beast to feature on this gold coin. Pantikapaion used gold that originated from the steppes in the East and with it came the romantic tale of the griffin which, to contemporary individuals, may have seemed to be a living creature. The gold was mined in the area in central Asia where modern-day palaeontologists have discovered fossils of the beaked dinosaur, Protoceratops. This dinosaur was about the size of a lion and had a head not dissimilar to that of an eagle. It seems plausible that the Scythians could have discovered a Protoceratops fossil during the mining process and this gave rise to the story that this beast was a guardian of the remote sources of gold found there. US$ 55,000

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