THRACO-MACEDONIAN REGION, Uncertain. 5th century BC. AR Tetartemorion (6mm, 0.25 g).

Primate crouching left / Pellet or shield within incuse square with slightly rounded corners. Toned, patches of find patina, some granularity. VF. Rare.

This enigmatic series showing a monkey squatting either right or left with a round shield on the reverse, is the only Greek coinage of the classical period to depict such an animal. Monkeys are known to have been kept as house pets in antiquity, but its significance in this context is unknown.Monkeys are known to have appeared in Greek art, very possibly taken from living models (like the Blue Monkeys - Cercopithecus Mitis - which appear in frescoes from Akrotiri on Thera). While the temperature range found in the Thraco-Macedonian region in ancient times probably precludes the existence of a population of native monkeys, they may well have arrived as either pets or ritual animals, thence to be used as a coin type.

Riferimento : Tzamalis 67. From the Jim Gilman Collection, purchased from John Jencek, 7 August 2009. Purchased from CNG May 11, 2022

Collezione : Macedonian shield coins