Watch List notes:

The Bisalti. ; The Bisalti; Bisaltian District, Bisaltae, c. 480-465 BC, Octadrachm, 28.18g. Not in Svoronos, AMNG, BMC Macedonia, or Raymond. Another example from same dies: Lanz 74, 20 November 1995, lot 142. About seven recorded with this helmet symbol in obverse field. Obv: Horse standing r.; behind youth standing r., wearing petasos and holding two spears; before horse, Corinthian helmet, Rx: Quadripartite incuse square. In the late sixth century and early fifth century B.C., several Thracian tribes and the Greek city of Abdera in Thrace struck enormous silver octadrachms, eight-drachm coins. The most prominent of the tribes was the Bisalti, who lived to the west of the lower Strymon river in Thrace. Octadrachms were the largest silver coins struck anywhere at the time. The size of this denomination is made apparent by the fact that a mercenary soldier was paid significantly less than one drachm a day and a highly skilled artisan made no more than one drachm a day. An octadrachm was much too large a denomination for use in daily transactions at the market. Its purchasing power would have been at least as great as a thousand dollar bill today! Why, then, did the Thracians issue these enormous coins? The Thracians controlled important silver mines and exported silver to pay for luxuries, such as wine, fine weapons, and stylish clothing, that they imported in great quantities from Greece and the Persian Empire. Also, in the late sixth century the Persians extended their empire to include Thrace, and they demanded tribute from this newly conquered territory. That tribute must have been paid in these large silver coins, for they are found primarily in the territory of the Persian Empire: Anatolia, Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Iran. Relatively few octadrachms have survived. The pressure required to strike these large pieces must have been great and the dies wore quickly. Most of those found in the Persian Empire have suffered from test cuts and in many cases have actually been hacked into smaller and presumably more easily negotiable pieces. The grouping of these coins which came into the market some years ago has mostly been absorbed by collectors and museums. Soon the true rarity of these coins will again be reflected by the lack of market availability.Some areas of the horse's body are a little flat, possibly from overstriking rather than wear, and without much affecting the beautiful images of this obverse
($9850)