CNOSSUS SILVER STATER – ISSUE WITH A CRUCIFORM LABYRINTH AND STAR – CHOICE FINE NGC GRADED GREEK CRETE COIN (Inv. 20315)

$9,500.00

20315. CRETE. CNOSSUS. Ca. 330–270 BC.
Silver Stater, 10.70 g, 23mm.
Obv. Head of a goddess (Hera or Demeter) right, wearing a wreath of grain. Rev. Labyrinth in a cruciform counterclockwise maeander pattern, eight–pointed star in the center.
Svoronos 28 (same obverse die); SNG Copenhagen 369; Le Rider pl. XXXII, 1 (possibly the same obverse die).
NGC graded CHOICE FINE, Strike 4/5, Surface 2/5.

This stater is remarkable for its representation of the famous labyrinth—the intricate maze where the mythical King Minos kept the monstrous Minotaur imprisoned. The labyrinth was a common image on the coins of Cnossus, but it is usually depicted in a square or circular shape. Here, however, it is shown in a rare cruciform shape and with a star in the center as if to mark the location of the Minotaur. If Theseus had a map as good as this, he might not have needed Ariadne’s ball of twine to navigate the labyrinth. The obverse type has been variously described as a depiction of Hera or Demeter. The latter seems most likely, considering that a sanctuary of Demeter was located in the territory of Cnossus on the Gypsadhes hill south of the city’s Minoan palace complex.