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Greek city of Autokane (Autocane) in Aeolis
Bronze 9mm Struck circa 300-200 B.C.
Reference: SNG Cop. – ; SNG BN – ; SNG Aul. – ; Slg. Klein – ; SNG Kayhan – .; Gorny & Mosch 200/1645.
Certification: NGC Ancients VF 4285281-116
Laureate head of Zeus right.
AYTOKA, Helmeted head of Athena left; flower below.
Super rare coin, as it doesn’t seem to be in any standard reference and was only encountered on auction.
You are bidding on the exact item pictured, provided with a Certificate of Authenticity and Lifetime Guarantee of Authenticity.
 Athena or Athene (Latin: Minerva), also referred to as Pallas Athena, is the goddess of war, civilization, wisdom, strength, strategy, crafts, justice and skill in Greek mythology. Minerva, Athena’s Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is also a shrewd companion of heroes and the goddess of heroic endeavour. She is the virgin patron of Athens. The Athenians built the Parthenon on the Acropolis of her namesake city, Athens, in her honour (Athena Parthenos). Athena’s cult as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the earliest times and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis), many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias (“Athena of the city”). Athens and Athena bear etymologically connected names.
Autokane (Ancient Greek: Αὐτοκάνη) or Autokana (Αὐτοκάνα) was a town of ancient Aeolis on a mountain of the same name. It is quoted in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, where it is mentioned as the name of a mountain and, on the other hand, through numismatic evidence consisting of coins dated to the 4th century BCE on which the inscriptions «ΑΥΤΟΚΑΝΑ» or «ΑΥΤ» appear, it is deduced that there was also a city with the same name. The site of the town has never been located..
 Aeolis or Aeolia was an area that comprised the west and northwestern region of Asia Minor, mostly along the coast, and also several offshore islands (particularly Lesbos), where the Aeolian Greek city-states were located. Aeolis incorporated the southern parts of Mysia which bounded it to the north, Ionia to the south, and Lydia to the east.
Geography
Aeolis was an ancient district on the western coast of Asia Minor. It extended along the Aegean Sea from the entrance of the Hellespont (now the Dardanelles) south to the Hermus River (now the Gediz River). It was named for the Aeolians, some of whom migrated there from Greece before 1000 BC. Aeolis was, however, an ethnological and linguistic enclave rather than a geographical unit. The district often was considered part of the larger northwest region of Mysia.
History
According to Homer’s description, Odysseus, after his stay with the Cyclopes, reached the island of Aeolia, who provided him with the west wind Zephyr.
In early times, by the 8th century BC, the Aeolians’ twelve most important cities were independent, and formed a league (Dodecapolis): Cyme, Larissa (also called Phriconis), Neonteichos, Temnus, Cilla, Notion, Aegiroessa, Pitane, Aegae, Myrina, Gryneion, and Smyrna.
The most celebrated of the cities was Smyrna (modern Izmir, Turkey), but in 699 BC, Smyrna became part of an Ionian confederacy. The remaining cities were conquered by Croesus, king of Lydia (reigned 560-546 BC). Later they were held successively by the Persians, Macedonians, Seleucids, and Pergamenes.
Attalus III, the last king of Pergamum, bequeathed Aeolis to Rome in 133 BC. Shortly afterward, it was made part of the Roman province of Asia. At the partition of the Roman Empire (395 AD), Aeolis was assigned to the East Roman (Byzantine) empire and remained under Byzantine rule until the early 15th century, when the Ottoman Turks occupied the area.
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