Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Ionia, uncertain mint EL Trite. Circa 600-550 BC. Lydo-Milesian standard. Horse rolling over on to back, head to left / Vertical incuse rectangular punch. Weidauer 136, 137 = SNG Berry 1034; SNG von Aulock 7784; Rosen 254; cf. BMC Ionia 2, pl. III, 4 (stater); M. Mignucci, Elettro arcaico, incroci di conio inediti, SM 42, 166 (May 1992), fig. 1-2. 4.65g, 13mm.
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, only the sixth known example of an issue of considerable artistic quality.
This extremely rare trite is part of a small series of staters and trites which are all closely linked through shared dies, that show a ram with head reverted (Weidauer 52-54), the horse rolling onto its back (Weidauer 135-137), and a butting bull (Weidauer 131-132). Mignucci points out that all these coins had to have been struck over a very short period of time at a single mint. In particular, the highly unusual reverse of the trites displays a single punch-mark, rather than the two separate punch marks we might normally expect to see. This technique is seemingly without parallel, perhaps indicating a short-lived experiment. The identification of the mint, as with much early electrum, is impossible to ascertain at present. Agnes Baldwin Brett, in her commentary on an example of the ram-type stater (Boston MFA 1759), proposed that it was struck at Klazomenai, on the basis that the ram, a symbol of Apollo, was a commonly used design at that city during the 4th Century BC. This of course fails to explain the common features with the horse and bull types. All we can surmise therefore is that given the incredibly high artistic quality of the dies, it is probable that this series must have been the product of one of the more important mints in Ionia.
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare, only the sixth known example of an issue of considerable artistic quality.
This extremely rare trite is part of a small series of staters and trites which are all closely linked through shared dies, that show a ram with head reverted (Weidauer 52-54), the horse rolling onto its back (Weidauer 135-137), and a butting bull (Weidauer 131-132). Mignucci points out that all these coins had to have been struck over a very short period of time at a single mint. In particular, the highly unusual reverse of the trites displays a single punch-mark, rather than the two separate punch marks we might normally expect to see. This technique is seemingly without parallel, perhaps indicating a short-lived experiment. The identification of the mint, as with much early electrum, is impossible to ascertain at present. Agnes Baldwin Brett, in her commentary on an example of the ram-type stater (Boston MFA 1759), proposed that it was struck at Klazomenai, on the basis that the ram, a symbol of Apollo, was a commonly used design at that city during the 4th Century BC. This of course fails to explain the common features with the horse and bull types. All we can surmise therefore is that given the incredibly high artistic quality of the dies, it is probable that this series must have been the product of one of the more important mints in Ionia.