THRACE, Chersonesos – AR Hemidrachm; circa 386-338 BC. Obv. Forepart of lion right, looking back, right foreleg raised. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square with •VE monogram in one quarter and cicada in the opposite quarter. Reference: McClean 4079; HGC 3.2, 1437. Weight: 2.28 g Diameter: 13.6 mm Metal: Silver The cicada (ΤΕΤΤΙΞ) that appears in the sunken quarter of the reverse of this hemidrachm was for the Greeks a symbol of immortality. It is the myth of the cicada-man Tithonus who became the lover of Eos, the Titan of the dawn. Eos asked Zeus to make Tithonus immortal but she forgot to ask for eternal youth. Tithonus indeed lived forever but he kept getting older and older, smaller and smaller, until there was nothing left of him but his shrill voice. Zeus turned him into a cicada, eternally living, but begging for death to overcome him Provenience: ex private collection. See the pictures for more details and correct impression