Northern Greece. Macedon, Mende.
Tetradrachm, c. 423/2 BC. (Silver, 17.56g., 27.5mm). Dionysos, wearing ivy wreath and himation and with his head turned forward and slightly to the right, reclining on a donkey walking to right, resting his left hand on the donkey’s side and holding, with his right hand, a kantharos propped on his right knee; in exergue, kerykeion and, in small letters, ΝΙ / ΜΕΝ-ΔΑ-Ι-ΟΝ Linear square containing a vine bearing four bunches of grapes; all within shallow incuse square. Noe 93a (same dies). SNG ANS 350 (same dies).

Mende (IACP 584) seems to have had quite a long history of connections to Euboia: there is late Mycenaean and early Geometric pottery from the site that is similar to material found at Lefkandi (“old Eretria”). However, it may well have received further settlers from Eretria during the 8th century. The city was famous for its wine (as might be expected given the types on its coinage) and was quite prosperous. It was initially allied to Xerxes but soon joined the Delian League. During the Peloponnesian War the city supported Athens but its oligarchs forced it to go over to Brasidas’s Spartans in 423. The Athenians violently retrieved the city shortly thereafter. In the 4th century Mende was antagonistic to the Chalkidian League: as a result it lost its autonomy to Philip II but was not destroyed like Olynthos. The coinage of Mende is Dionysiac in nature (the early coins just show the donkey of Dionysos, later ones, as this, show it being ridden by him) and, apart from the fractions, was very little known prior to the Kaliandra (Mende) hoard of 1913. The present coin is particularly interesting because of the letters ΝΙ in the exergue on the Obverse: they may refer to Nicias and Nicostratus, the Athenian commanders whose forces retook the city and expelled the oligarchs. For the most recent discussion see J. Kagan, Notes on the Coinage of Mende, AJN 26 (2014), pp. 5 ff.

Grading/Status: A beautifully toned and well-struck coin with an obverse of great beauty and finesse. Extremely fine.

Notes
Provenance:
Numismatica Genevensis SA V, 2 December 2008, 62.
Gorny & Mosch 125, 13 October 2003, 102.
Collection of C. Côte, Feuardent Frères et al., 4 December 1936, 30.
Kaliandra Hoard of 1913.