Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3061 7-8 Jan 2018
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EASTERN EUROPE. Illyria-Paeonian Region. Ca. 4th-3rd centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (25mm, 12.79 gm, 1h). NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Imitating (?) Damastium, or possibly an "official" issue of that mint. Head of Apollo left, laureate, with severe features / ΔΑΜΑΣ-ΤΙΝΩΝ (the second half partially retrograde and inverted), sacrificial tripod, the feet terminating in lion's claws. May Damastion Group IX, 100a (this coin). HGC 3.1, 92 (this coin illustrated). De Nanteuil Collection (1925) p. 286, 862 and pl. lii (this coin). Babelon Traite des monnaies grecques et romaines, part II, volume IV, 15 (this coin). Well struck from dies of distinctive style, with an exceptional pedigree.
Ex White-King Collection (Sotheby's, 22 March 1909), lot 147. Ex de Nanteuil Collection.
Establishing whether this intriguing coin is a Celtic imitative piece, or an "official" issue of the Illyrian city of Damastium (or Damastion) is a rather vexing problem, as different scholars studying this same distinctive coin have come to different conclusions over the past century. The problem seems to be that even Damastium's "official" issues are often struck from dies of crude style, with legends frequently blundered, inverted or retrograde. NGC's David Vagi did exceptional pedigree research on this coin, showing this very piece has been cited in several publications in the early 20th century, including J.M.F. May in his corpus The Coinage of Damastion and the Lesser Coinages of the Illyro-Paeonian Region (Oxford, 1939). May placed this coin in a separate category from the "official" coinage of Damastion because of the "barbaric" obverse style (with a dour-looking Apollo whose laurel wreath seems to blend into his wavy hair about halfway down his head), and rather topsy-turvy inscription. Oliver Hoover, in his recent "Handbook Of Greek Coins" vol. 3.1 (CNG, 2017), places the same coin within the normal run of coinage from Damastion.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
EASTERN EUROPE. Illyria-Paeonian Region. Ca. 4th-3rd centuries BC. AR tetradrachm (25mm, 12.79 gm, 1h). NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5. Imitating (?) Damastium, or possibly an "official" issue of that mint. Head of Apollo left, laureate, with severe features / ΔΑΜΑΣ-ΤΙΝΩΝ (the second half partially retrograde and inverted), sacrificial tripod, the feet terminating in lion's claws. May Damastion Group IX, 100a (this coin). HGC 3.1, 92 (this coin illustrated). De Nanteuil Collection (1925) p. 286, 862 and pl. lii (this coin). Babelon Traite des monnaies grecques et romaines, part II, volume IV, 15 (this coin). Well struck from dies of distinctive style, with an exceptional pedigree.
Ex White-King Collection (Sotheby's, 22 March 1909), lot 147. Ex de Nanteuil Collection.
Establishing whether this intriguing coin is a Celtic imitative piece, or an "official" issue of the Illyrian city of Damastium (or Damastion) is a rather vexing problem, as different scholars studying this same distinctive coin have come to different conclusions over the past century. The problem seems to be that even Damastium's "official" issues are often struck from dies of crude style, with legends frequently blundered, inverted or retrograde. NGC's David Vagi did exceptional pedigree research on this coin, showing this very piece has been cited in several publications in the early 20th century, including J.M.F. May in his corpus The Coinage of Damastion and the Lesser Coinages of the Illyro-Paeonian Region (Oxford, 1939). May placed this coin in a separate category from the "official" coinage of Damastion because of the "barbaric" obverse style (with a dour-looking Apollo whose laurel wreath seems to blend into his wavy hair about halfway down his head), and rather topsy-turvy inscription. Oliver Hoover, in his recent "Handbook Of Greek Coins" vol. 3.1 (CNG, 2017), places the same coin within the normal run of coinage from Damastion.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD