MYSIA. Kyzikos. Approximately 450-330 BC. Stater (Electrum, 19 mm, 16.05 g, 12 h). Helios, nude and radiate, kneeling right with his arms outstretched in front of two horses practicing to left and right; below, tune to right. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMC 105. Boston MFA 1515. SNG Paris 297. SNG by Aulock 7311. By Fritze I, 148 and pl. IV, 35. Very rare and undoubtedly among the finest known examples of this remarkable issue, with a magnificent and highly unusual detection of Helios and his immortal horses, probably derived from a sculptural prototype. Very minor doubling on the obverse, otherwise, extremely fine. The image of this remarkable type is a highly compressed evolution of Helios--daily journey across the heavens. Rather than showing the sun-god in his customary chariot, the Kyzikene engraver has reduced the scene to its essential elements: the radiate god and his immortal horses, whose foreparts rise symmetrically on either side of him. The result is an exceptional compact and almost architectural composition, so carefully balanced that J. P. Six already suggested that it might ultimately deive from a sculptural model, perhaps a temple metope. The choice of Helios need not have been purely decorative. The god was wormshipped at nearby Zeleia on the Aisepos, and Greenwell considered a cult at Kyzikos itself probable. Solar imagery would have found a natural place within the cities strong Apolline traditions. This lot cannot be shipped to a US address.