These small but beautiful coins feature Helios facing slightly right on the obverse with a rose bud set in an incused square on the reverse. Struck circa 170-88 BC. Very Fine or better condition! Helios was adopted as the patron deity of Rhodes upon the city's foundation and became the nearly universal obverse design of their coinage over the next 400 years. The rose was a take on the Rhodes name, such puns were a common practice in ancient Greek coin design. Rhodes was famous worldwide for the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World and today is a major international tourist destination. |