Stater of Herakleion, c 390-340 BC

van Keuren 50                   7.61 g                     LHS Numismatik AG > Auction 100 2007 lot 95
                                                           Estimate CHF 3'750.00


type vK042-052


Stater (Silver, 7.61 g 6), c. 350-340, signed by the Kal…engraver. Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic 
helmet adorned with Scylla and with a palmette on the neck guard; to right, //. Rev. Herakles standing facing, 
slightly turned to the right, grappling with the Nemean lion; between his legs, owl; to left, club and artist’s 
signature . HN III, 1377. Van Keuren 50. Work 40. Rare. An attractive and well- struck example. Slightly porous and
with some flatness on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine. 

This is one of the rare issues of Herakleia signed by the Kal…engraver, one of the great die-cutters who worked in 
Magna Graecia during the late classical period. He is well-known from the superb dies he produced for Tarentine 
staters (as lots 64-65 above), but, as this coin shows, he also worked for other cities. His actual name is 
unknown, since it is now believed that Kal abbreviates the name of a high official (such as Kallikrates or 
Kallimachos) who worked as a moneyer for several cities: he did, however, utilize the services of a single 
master-engraver whose style can be recognized from all the dies he produced.