The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 19, 2025

Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)

465–449 BCE

Greek, minted at Knidos

(Karia)
silver
Diameter: 1.7 cm (11/16 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1929.914
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

Although produced in the Classical period, this profile head of Aphrodite retains an Archaic look.

Description

The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail.
  • ?-1929
    Charles T. Seltman, Berkhamsted, England, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1929-
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Cahn, Herbert A. Knidos: die Münzen des sechsten und des fünften Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1970. No. 72, pp. 45-6, & 226, Tafel 16
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Drachm: Forepart of Lion (obverse); Head of Aphrodite (reverse)|url=false|author=|year=465–449 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1929.914