24 Best Coins

Thebes
Stater circa 425-395, AR 23 mm, 12.05 g. Boeotian shield. Rev. Θ – E Infant Heracles seated facing on ground, head r., strangling snake in each hand; bow in upper l. field. Traité III 264 and pl. CCI, 7. SNG Lockett 1748. BCD Boiotia 459.
Rare. Struck on a narrow flan, otherwise about extremely fine
Ex Künker sale 182, 2011, 218.

dionysus

Thebes AR Stater Herakles

Boeotia, Haliartos 525-480 BC. Circa 525-480 AR Drachm. Good Very Fine, Pleasing light cabinet toning.

The earliest silver issues of Haliartos (before the aspirate moves to the reverse) are much rarer than the corresponding issues for Thebes. Some of the fractions are either unique or known by only two or three examples, all in museums. The drachms, such as this, are notoriously difficult to find reasonably centered and in decent condition.

The first series of Federal coinage in Boeotia (parallel to Orchomenus and the wheat obols) Is believed to have begun in the last quarter of the 6th Century BC. The first 3 federal mints as identified by Dr. Imhoof-Blumer in the mid 19th Century are: Thebes, Tanagra and Haliartos.

Barclay Head writes about this series: " The Earliest Boeotian Federal coinage also consisting of Aegintic drachms and smaller divisions, issued at Thebes, Haliartus and Tanagra. Its characteristic type, the shield of Herakles, commonly called the Boeotian shield." (Head, 4).

"The obverse or the shield side is either without any inscription (in which case it is presumable that the coin is Theban), or else it has within the openings of the shield on either side the letters Heta-Heta, T-T, T-A, the mint marks of the towns Haliartus and Tanagra" respectively. (Head, 10).

Out of the three mints, Haliartos is by far the hardest to attain, and most examples come in worn condition, with crystallized metal and an off center strike, none of which are present at this example. One of these has not appeared since the BCD sale in 2006, which is an indication of its rarity. BCD had just four drachms from this series, two of them being off struck and of bad metal.

Boeotia Tanagra, 525 - 480 BC. AR DRACHM

Boeotia: Thebes. AR Stater. Struck circa 480-460 B.C. (19 mm, 12.02 gm).
Obverse: Boeotian shield.
Reverse: Square incuse with clockwise mill-sail pattern, Q in center.
S.1783, Myron Hoard [Pl.A, 14, BMC 4, BCD 3540, SNG Fitz 2905, ACNAC Rosen 179, HGC 4, 1308
7mm thick! Heavy for such a small flan!
Lovely toning forming

BOEOTIA. Thebes. Circa 390-382 BC. Stater (Silver, 23 mm, 12.15 g, 8 h), struck under the magistrate Damo... Boeotian shield. Rev. ΔA-MΩ Amphora with two tall handles and a fluted upper half; above, laurel wreath tied above. BCD Boiotia 492 ( same reverse die ). Hepworth 23 ( same reverse die ). HGC 4, 1330. MAST 6.72 ( this coin ). Attractively toned and very well-struck. Minor die breaks on the obverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.

From a European collection, acquired privately from Tradart in 1988.

BOEOTIA. Thebes. Circa 390-382 BC. Stater (Silver, 22 mm, 12.26 g, 9 h), Wast..., magistrate. Boeotian shield. Rev. FA-ΣT Amphora; above, boukranion; all within shallow round incuse. BCD Boiotia 498. Hepworth 37. A rare variety. Well centered and with beautiful iridescent collection toning. Minor die breaks on the obverse*, otherwise,* about extremely fine.

From the collection of Prof. Dr. D. Mannsperger, formed over the past 60 years, Leu 14, 14 October 2023, 74.

BOEOTIA. Thebes. Circa 395-338 BC. Stater (Silver, 22 mm, 12.02 g, 5 h), Klio(n), c. 368-364. Boeotian shield. Rev. ΚΛ - ΙΩ Amphora with tall handles and a decorated upper half. BCD Boiotia 531. SNG Copenhagen 534. A perfectly centered and lightly toned example. Minor marks, otherwise, good very fine.

The Achaemenid Kings of Persia. Time of Xerxes II to Artaxerxes. Daric circa 420-375, BC 15 mm, 8.39 g. The Great King advancing r., holding bow and spear. Rev. Irregular incuse punch. Carradice 42. BMC 58. Dewing 2711.

Philip II, 359-336 BC. AV stater, 340/328 BC, Pella; 8.61 g. Apollo's head right with laurel wreath // Biga right, trident below. Hoover 846; Le Rider 333.

PTOLEMAIC EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphus (285/4-246 BC), with Arsinöe II, Ptolemy I, and Berenice I. AV tetradrachm (half-mnaieion) or pentekontadrachmon (50 drachm) (21mm, 13.81 gm, 12h). NGC Choice Fine 5/5 - 2/5, edge marks, marks. Alexandria, before August 272 BC. AΔEΛΦΩN, jugate busts right of Ptolemy II, diademed and draped, and Arsinöe II, diademed and veiled; Galatian shield decorated with thunderbolt behind, dotted border / ΘEΩN, jugate busts right of Ptolemy I, diademed and draped, and Berenice II, diademed and veiled; dotted border. CPE 314. Svoronos 604. A bright example of the iconic dynastic issue.

Mithridates VI Eupator 67-66 BC tetradrachm

IONIA MAGNESIA. Themistokles Satrap
AR-Trihemiobol, 464/459 BC; 1.14 g. Θ-E Bearded head of Themistokles/Hephaestus (?) with wreathed cap right//In incusum: ΘΕ surrounded by dotted border.
Nollé/Wenninger Th 3c; von Mosch 7 d (this example); Lathe Biosas -.
Of extreme rarity. Good, very fine. One of seven examples known.
Kuenker 416, lot 1222, october 2024
Roma Numismatics XVII, London 2019, no. 443.
Druckrey Collection

This is the only example known to us that shows the complete obverse with the monogram of Themistocles. Themistocles, victor of Salamis and savior of Greece, fell victim to the Athenian practice of ostracism in the late 70s of the 5th century BC; he was banished from the city and fled. He was eventually sentenced to death in absentia for high treason. Themistocles arrived at the court of the Persian king Artaxerxes I and gained his trust. Artaxerxes I subsequently granted him dominion over Lampsakos, Myoûs and Magnesia, where coins were minted bearing Themistocles’ monogram. The head on the obverse of our coin was interpreted by Cahn and Gerin as a portrait of Themistocles, but this was disputed by Johannes Nollé and Alois Wenniger (Münzen-Revue 9, 1996, p. 34 f.; SNR 75, 1996, p. 5 ff. esp. p. 18 ff.): Nollé and Wenniger argue that it must be the head of Hephaestus. On the other hand, Hans-Christoph von Mosch has recently argued that the head on the obverse should be interpreted as a portrait of Themistocles (see JNG 72, 2022, p. 13 ff. esp. p. 25 ff.). The discussion is still ongoing. Even if the identification of the head is not quite clear, the coin is one of the most interesting and historically significant coins from Asia Minor in the area of cultural tension between Greeks and Persians.

LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 340-330 BC. AR Nomos (20.5mm, 7.90 g, 8h). Wreathed head of Persephone right; ΔI to left / Ear of barley with seven grains and leaf to right; ant to left of stem; to right, above leaf, cornucopia surmounted by two ears of barley, ΦI below. Johnston Class D, 4.12 (same dies); HN Italy 1577; SNG ANS 516 (same dies). Lightly toned, some doubling on obverse, areas of light roughness, small area of weak strike. EF.

From the Michael Anderson Collection, purchased from Mike Vosper, August 2015.

BOEOTIA, Federal Coinage. 338-Circa 300 BC. (Bronze, 14 mm, 1.88 g, 1 h), Haliartos (?). Boiotian shield. Rev. ΒΟΙΩΤΩΝ Ornamented trident upward, with curved crossbar; in the filed to right, dolphin swimming upwards; in the lower right field, acorn (?). BCD Boiotia 57. HGC 4, 1183. Rare in this condition and attractive for the type. Green-brown patina. Good very fine.
From the collection of John Aiello and that of BCD.

KINGS of BOSPORUS. Sauromates II, with Commodus. Circa AD 174/5-210/1. EL Stater (19mm, 7.59 g, 12h). Dated Bosporan Era 483 (AD 186/7). Diademed and draped bust of Sauromates II right / Laureate and draped bust of Commodus right; to right, rosette; ΓΠY (date) below. Frolova p. 170, dies D/e; RPC IV.1 Online 2894 var. (rosette not described); Anokhin 564a; MacDonald 494/2. Minor marks and pitting, edge marks, faint graffito. VF. Extremely rare variety, only one known to Frolova.

MACEDON, Potidaia. Circa 525-500 BC. AR Tetrobol (13mm, 2.74 g, 5h). Horseman advancing left, holding trident; retrograde Π below / Head of female right, with Archaic features, within incuse square. Alexander Period 1A, b.1; HGC 3, 642. Compact flan, rough and granular surfaces. VF.

From a collection of Greek fractions.