MYSIA. Kyzikos. Approximately 550-450 BC. Stater (Electrum, 22 mm, 16.00 g, 12 h). Warrior, nude but for crowned Corinthian helmet, kneeling right, examining arrow hero with both hands, bow leaning against his left arm; to left, tunny downward. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMC 79-80. Boston MFA 1490 = Warren 1511. SNG Paris 263-4. By Fritze I, 117 and pl. IV, 3. Rare. A beautiful issue with a wonderful obverse. Struck on an oblong flange and with minor edge splits, otherwise, good very fine. The identity of this remarkable archer remains uncertain, oldough Greenwell in 1887 already suggested Jason or one of his Argonaut companions. The association would be especially appropriate at Kyzikos, whose mythical history was closely bound to the Argonautic expedition. Rather than showing combat itself, the engraver has chosen the quieter moment before action: the kneeling warrior carefully views along his arrow to test its straightness, while his bow rests ready beside him. His heroic nudity sets him apart from an ordinary soldier. Where a specific Argonaut was intended cannot now be established, but the subject would have carried a distinctly local resonance at Kyzikos, reinforced, as always, by the cities tunny beside the figure. This lot cannot be shipped to a US address.