Early coinage Coinage first appeared at Idalion after 500, with a Sphinx seated to right on the obverse and an incuse square on the reverse.
This uninscribed issue was followed by a series with the same types, but with the addition on the obverse of Cypriot-Syllabic signs which no doubt attest the name of the king who issued them, but whose interpretation is problematic. Hoard and overstrike evidence combine to suggest a date early in the fifth century for this issue.
A third issue with the same types shows a rose in the right field of the obverse, and on the reverse the legend e-ta-li in Cypriot-Syllabic script. The reference to the 'ethnic' name of a city instead of a king's name is rare on Cypriote coinage and the interpretation of the legend is still uncertain.
The above issues with incuse square on the reverse are followed by a series with a more elaborate reverse design: a lotus flower on two spiral tendrils. The obverse retains the seated Sphinx with the addition of two flowers on each side and the incomplete name of a king, Ki (-), in Cypriot-Syllabic script. An important clue for the dating of this issue is the fact that a specimen was overstruck on a shekel of king Baalmilk I of Kition, whose reign began in 479.
The above issues with incuse square on the reverse are followed by a series with a more elaborate reverse design: a lotus flower on two spiral tendrils. The obverse retains the seated Sphinx with the addition of two flowers on each side and the incomplete name of a king, Ki (-), in Cypriot-Syllabic script. An important clue for the dating of this issue is the fact that a specimen was overstruck on a shekel of king Baalmilk I of Kition, whose reign began in 479.
The above issues with incuse square on the reverse are followed by a series with a more elaborate reverse design: a lotus flower on two spiral tendrils. The obverse retains the seated Sphinx with the addition of two flowers on each side and the incomplete name of a king, Ki (-), in Cypriot-Syllabic script. An important clue for the dating of this issue is the fact that a specimen was overstruck on a shekel of king Baalmilk I of Kition, whose reign began in 479.
Stasikypros
The tablet, containing the longest text written in the Cypriot-Syllabic script so far found, records an agreement made between the king and the city of Idalion with a doctor of medicine and his brothers, who were responsible for healing the injured after an unsuccessful attempt by the 'Medians and Kitians' to capture Idalion, before they finally succeeded in the 450s.
Thirds and twelfths of a shekel on a local weight standard, figuring the same types as those of the previous kings (Sphinx/lotus flower) and bearing the Cypriot-Syllabic sign sa, have been attributed to Stasikypros.
These coins, dated to the middle of the fifth century, are the last royal coins of Idalion to be issued before it was conquered by Kition; subsequently the name of the city appeared only as part of the title of the kings of Kition.