Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3048 11 August 2016
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MACEDON. Mende. Ca. 520-480 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.87 gm). ΜΙΝΔΑΙ (retrograde), ass walking right, holding grape cluster in mouth, all within dotted circle / Quadripartite incuse square. Noe, The Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard, NNM 27,17 (same dies). SNG Ashmolean 2280. Extremely rare! Attractive old collection toning. NGC Choice VF★ 5/5 - 4/5. Mende was famous as a center of wine production, as evidenced by numerous amphorae bearing the city's stamp found throughout the Hellenic world. The symbol of an ass recurrs throughout Mende's coinage, usually in company with a figure of Dionysus, god of wine, reclining on his back. The earliest coinage of Mende features just the ass, sometimes with a bird perched on its rump. In this exceptionally rare early issue, the ass carries in its mouth a bunch of grapes, symbolizing Mende's famed wine production.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD
MACEDON. Mende. Ca. 520-480 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 16.87 gm). ΜΙΝΔΑΙ (retrograde), ass walking right, holding grape cluster in mouth, all within dotted circle / Quadripartite incuse square. Noe, The Mende (Kaliandra) Hoard, NNM 27,17 (same dies). SNG Ashmolean 2280. Extremely rare! Attractive old collection toning. NGC Choice VF★ 5/5 - 4/5. Mende was famous as a center of wine production, as evidenced by numerous amphorae bearing the city's stamp found throughout the Hellenic world. The symbol of an ass recurrs throughout Mende's coinage, usually in company with a figure of Dionysus, god of wine, reclining on his back. The earliest coinage of Mende features just the ass, sometimes with a bird perched on its rump. In this exceptionally rare early issue, the ass carries in its mouth a bunch of grapes, symbolizing Mende's famed wine production.
Estimate: 4000-5000 USD