Macedonia, Mende, Tetradrachm ca. 460-423 BC, extremely rare

Extremely rare Mende Tetradrachm with worn but still largely visible flan and designs. The edge shows a few splits and a trace between 5 and 6 o'clock on the obverse, originating from the die. The grenetis is discernible in the left register, visible in the right, and the incuse square on the reverse is almost entirely present. The rarity of our coin lies in the presence of the little dog and, above all, in the position in which it is depicted.
Our coin was minted on the Attic-Euboic standard between 460 and 423 BC, when Mende was a member of the League of Delos, from which it defected during the Peloponnesian War. Our Tetradrachm depicts an older Dionysos, draped and resting on a donkey while inebriated. In his hand, he holds a kantharos, the vase in which wine was drunk, and which he is said to have invented. It is also linked to the Dionysian cult and the procession of the same name. Dionysos, Maenads, Satyrs, Silenus and animals such as goats, panthers and donkeys are all part of the procession.
Our Tetradrachm represents part of this procession and its iconography. The donkey is associated with both Dionysos and Silenus, as it is the animal on which both deities rest when inebriated. It is also renowned for its stamina, and is therefore used to transport goods, associating it with mobility. The absence of plant leaves around the bird, interpreted as a jay (HGC 3.1-545) or a crow (Noe, The Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard of 1913, 1926), is another peculiarity of our specimen.
The last animal on the obverse is the little dog. Its presence on Mende's Tetradrachms is extremely rare, since only four types - 77 to 80 - are referenced by Noe. To the best of our knowledge, the five Tetradrachms featuring a dog and offered for sale in the last twenty years show it on all fours and turned to the right (all Noe, 78). Our example, with the little animal turned to the left and standing on its back legs, is therefore singular. It is referenced by Noe as number 80, but does not appear in the Jameson Collection.
The reverse features a single, slightly incuse square in which the entire iconography can be found. The five bunches of grapes are depicted on their vine, with small branches and leaves cutting through the ethic. The representation of the vine and the grape, from which wine is made, is thus intimately linked to the iconography of the obverse, and in particular Dionysos, for which it is the protective divinity. Beyond the concordance between obverse and reverse, the choice of depicting symbols linked to this beverage is not insignificant. The city of Mende is renowned for the production and export of wine throughout Greece. All the elements of the iconography therefore testify to the city's viticultural activity and its importance. A must-have coin!