Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3066 17 Aug 2018
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Ancients
MACEDON. Acanthus. Ca. 525-470 BC. AR tetradrachm (27.5mm, 17.10 gm). NGC MS ★ 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Struck ca. 480-470 BC. Lion springing right, attacking bull kneeling to left with raised head and biting into his hind quarters, stylized acanthus flower below dotted exergual line / Quadripartite incuse square, the interior compartments granulated. SNG ANS 8. Desneux 35a. A breathtaking gem with proof-like fields and intense high-relief obverse.
Of the Archaic Greek coinages, the imagery of Acanthus is among the most striking and influential, depicting a lion attacking a bull, a motif soon adopted by several other cities. Lions prowled the hinterlands of Thrace and Macedon in this era and Herodotus recounts an episode when the baggage train of the Persian King Xerxes's army was set upon by lions during its march from Asia Minor into Greece proper. This particular rendering of the life-and-death struggle is especially powerful, with its yin-yang juxtapositioning of the two animals struck in living high relief, displaying the full vigor of Archaic Greek art.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 20000-30000 USD
MACEDON. Acanthus. Ca. 525-470 BC. AR tetradrachm (27.5mm, 17.10 gm). NGC MS ★ 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style. Struck ca. 480-470 BC. Lion springing right, attacking bull kneeling to left with raised head and biting into his hind quarters, stylized acanthus flower below dotted exergual line / Quadripartite incuse square, the interior compartments granulated. SNG ANS 8. Desneux 35a. A breathtaking gem with proof-like fields and intense high-relief obverse.
Of the Archaic Greek coinages, the imagery of Acanthus is among the most striking and influential, depicting a lion attacking a bull, a motif soon adopted by several other cities. Lions prowled the hinterlands of Thrace and Macedon in this era and Herodotus recounts an episode when the baggage train of the Persian King Xerxes's army was set upon by lions during its march from Asia Minor into Greece proper. This particular rendering of the life-and-death struggle is especially powerful, with its yin-yang juxtapositioning of the two animals struck in living high relief, displaying the full vigor of Archaic Greek art.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 20000-30000 USD