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Triskeles Sale 22 15 Dec 2017
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Lesbos, Unattributed early mint. Ca. 500-450 B.C. BI 1/36 stater (6 mm, 0.26 g). Two eyes / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG Copenhagen 292; HGC 6, 1074. Rare. Toned. Well struck for the issue. Nearly extremely fine.
The obverse type on these early coins of Lesbos is very enigmatic. While the two objects are traditionally described as eyes, as they are here, they are very different from the eye depicted on roughly contemporary issues listed as BMC 37-8, which have clear iris and pupil. This has sometimes prompted the suggestion that they might represent barelycorns instead of eyes.
Estimate: $200