Collecting the Unusual. A Coin of Leucas

Corinth. Circa 375-300 BC. AR Stater (8.56g, 21mm). Obv.: Ϙ Pegasos flying left. Rev.: head of Athena to left, wearing Corinthian helmet; below chin, A; behind neck guard, Λ and trophy.

The collection has reached the point where it contains many of the more common coins from across the Greek world. Rather than simply collecting minor variations of the same coins the focus is now on collecting the unusual - coins which may not just be a variation of type but which may have an interesting story. The city of Leucas is interesting for many reasons. It is an artificial island whose founding myth is that it was named after Leucadios, the brother of Odysseus' wife Penelope, and so Odysseus may have ruled it and neighbouring islands from Ithaca. It is also recorded that Sappho committed suicide by throwing herself off one of its cliffs out of frustrated love. Its temple of Apollo Leukatis was the scene of a rite of human sacrifice, where annually a criminal was thrown from the cliff. However, in this instance the coin has been added to the collection due to its ethnic.

The coin has both a Lambda on the obverse, which typically indicates that it was minted in the Corinthian colony of Leucas, and a Koppa (archaic Kappa) on the reverse, which is the mint mark associated with Corinth. So where was this minted? It was sold as Leucas, however Calciati lists it as being minted in Corinth, with the implication that it was minted on behalf of Leucas. Another interpretation is that it was minted in Leucas in a period where the influence of the mother city was strong and the koppa has been included as a nod to Corinth. It is interesting to speculate on whether it was minted in support of the joint Corinthian/Leucas expedition to oppose the Athenians in Korkyra in 373 BC, or for use by the mercenaries supplied by Leucas to the Corinthian general Timoleon for his Sicilian campaign in 344 BC. Even though this is only speculation without any hope of literary confirmation, it does add spice to the imagination when considering this coin.