Greek Islands Ancient Coins
"Kalymnos Coin-Silver Drachm"
Kalymnos lies opposite the Karian city of Myndos; many scholars attribute an Archaic issue to it, consisting of a very rare stater, whose authenticity has recently been disputed, depicting a helmeted male head on the obverse and a lyre in an incuse square on the reverse. The depiction of the head, which is probably to be identified with Ares, the god of war, has been rendered in a rough, Archaic manner that allows it to be dated to the second half of the 6th c. BC. The use of the lyre as a numismatic type was influenced by the cult of Apollo, who had a temple on the island. In the 3rd c. BC. Kalymnos struck drachms and bronze coins with the same iconographic type, though it had evolved in accordance with the models of its time.
Silver drachm 3rd c. BC. O. Head of Ares R. Lyre