Watch List notes:

Elis, Olympia, silver hemidrachm, c. 450-430 BC, eagle with open wings right, holding hare in its talons and tearing at it with its beak, rev., F – A, thunderbolt with wings above and volutes below, 2.97g, die axis 4.00, extremely fine and very rare, an exceptional example and lightly toned. This coin published: Jameson 2507. Other references: SNG Berry 825, same dies; SNG Copenhagen 362, same dies. Provenance: Capt. E.G. Spencer-Churchill Collection; Ars Classica XIV, Geneva, 2 July 1929, lot 277; R. Jameson Collection, Paris; M & M Numismatics I, New York, 7 December 1997, lot 102; BCD Collection; Leu Numismatics 90, 10 May 2004, lot 43; Manhattan Sale II, 4 January 2011, lot 54. Note: The catalogue of the BCD collection (2004) and its commentary is generally accepted as the "latest thinking" in regard to the complex nature of the coins of Olympia. The present coin which is remarkably well preserved (and was described as "one of the finest known hemidrachms of Olympia of the 5th century" in the BCD sale) shows die flaws (from rust on the dies) which are not present on a die duplicate (the previous lot in the BCD sale) – thus raising the notion that dies were sometimes retained from one Olympiad to the next, assuming the theory that "new" coins were indeed produced for each Olympic festival. With the Games attracting huge audiences from all parts of the Greek world it seems very likely that the authorities would have insisted on the use of locally made coins in all transactions to ensure that correct weights and measures were to be adhered to – and whatever exchange rate was decided upon would no doubt have benefitted state coffers. (6000 - 8000 GBP)