Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3041 Sess. 4 13 August 2015
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LYDIAN KINGDOM. Alyattes or Walwet (610-560 BC). EL third-stater or trite (12mm, 4.75 gm). Inscribed issue, Sardes (?), ca. 600-580 BC. Two confronted heads of lions (the right-facing head entirely shown and the left-facing one mostly off flan, with tip of nose showing); between them, WALWET in retrograde Lydian script / Two incuse square punches side by side. Weidaur Group XVII, 95 (these dies). SNG von Aulock 8204.95. J. Spier in Studies Price (London 1998), pp. 330-332. Le Rider, La naissance de la monnaie, pp. 49-57. Rare issue with a clear inscription! NGC Choice XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Known examples of electrum coins inscribed in the name of the Lydian king Alyattes (rendered WALWET in the ancient Lydian script) were in the single digits until recently, when several examples from an appeared on the market. They remain extremely rare and are certainly among the first coins in history to carry an inscription along with a "type." The dies of third-staters (trites) and sixth-staters (hectes, see following lot) were engraved with two confronting lion heads with the Lydian legend between them; however, the flans are invariably too small to show both heads (although, exceptionally, this example does show the nose of the left-facing lion). Only a tiny number possess an inscription as complete as the one seen here, with all letters present.
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD
LYDIAN KINGDOM. Alyattes or Walwet (610-560 BC). EL third-stater or trite (12mm, 4.75 gm). Inscribed issue, Sardes (?), ca. 600-580 BC. Two confronted heads of lions (the right-facing head entirely shown and the left-facing one mostly off flan, with tip of nose showing); between them, WALWET in retrograde Lydian script / Two incuse square punches side by side. Weidaur Group XVII, 95 (these dies). SNG von Aulock 8204.95. J. Spier in Studies Price (London 1998), pp. 330-332. Le Rider, La naissance de la monnaie, pp. 49-57. Rare issue with a clear inscription! NGC Choice XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Known examples of electrum coins inscribed in the name of the Lydian king Alyattes (rendered WALWET in the ancient Lydian script) were in the single digits until recently, when several examples from an appeared on the market. They remain extremely rare and are certainly among the first coins in history to carry an inscription along with a "type." The dies of third-staters (trites) and sixth-staters (hectes, see following lot) were engraved with two confronting lion heads with the Lydian legend between them; however, the flans are invariably too small to show both heads (although, exceptionally, this example does show the nose of the left-facing lion). Only a tiny number possess an inscription as complete as the one seen here, with all letters present.
Estimate: 10000-15000 USD