Owner Comments:
Obverse: Predator
Reverse: Lunch
Head of roaring lion right / Incuse head of calf left; rectangular punch behind. HGC 6, 937. Bodenstedt 12.
Lesbos is the third-largest island in Greece, but was once connected to present-day Turkey. It is now only barely separated from Turkey by a narrow strait, since the end of the last Ice Age 11,700 years ago. In recent news, Lesbos has become a landing place for many of the migrants seeking entry into the European Union because of its proximity to Turkey. The largest city on the island, and the capital of the present-day Greek political administrative unit, is Myteline. That's where this coin was struck. Aristotle and Epicrus lived on the island for a while during their own lifetimes (after this coin was struck)
The name is from Ancient Greek: Λέσβος Lésbos "forested" or "woody", possibly a Hittite borrowing, as the original Hittite name for the island was Lazpa. An older name for the island that was maintained in Aeolic Greek was Ἴσσα Íssa.
According to later Greek writers, Mytilene was founded in the 11th century BC by the family Penthilidae, who arrived from Thessaly and ruled the city-state until a popular revolt (590–580 BC) led by Pittacus of Mytilene ended their rule. In fact the archaeological and linguistic record may indicate a late Iron Age arrival of Greek settlers although references in Late Bronze Age Hittite archives indicate a likely Greek presence then. The name Mytilene itself seems to be of Hittite origin. According to Homer's Iliad, Lesbos was part of the kingdom of Priam, which was based in Anatolia (present day Turkey). Keep in mind that Priam was the King of Troy during the legendary Trojan War.
We can laugh about how the inhabitants of the island are all Lesbians. They are. But with a capital "L" that just means they are from this island.
NGC has certified 226 of these.
Compared to the earlier coin from Erythrae, this coin has more than just an incuse punch on the reverse. The reverse is still incuse, but now features a detailed lamb's head. The irregular rectangular punch is still there, just squeezed in behind the lamb's head. I have seen other examples of the same issue where the lamb's head is facing right, instead of left. See NGC certification number 4281474-001. I do not know of any significance to this difference.