Nomos AG
Auction 17 26 Oct 2018
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
LUCANIA. Metapontum. Circa 400-340 BC. Nomos or Didrachm (Silver, 20 mm, 7.63 g, 3 h). Head of Demeter (?) to right, wearing a pendant earring and a simple necklace, with her hair bound in a sakkos ornamented with stars. Rev. ΜΕΤΑ Barley ear with leaf to left; below leaf, ΛΥ. Gillet 154 (this coin). HN III 1536b. Noe 448. Nicely toned and with a lovely female head. Extremely fine.
From a Swiss collection and from the B. in B. Collection, Nomos 8, 22 October 2013, 20 and ex Bank Leu 33, 3 May 1983, 201, , and from the collection of C. Gillet, 154.
Whether the head on this coin is really that of Demeter is uncertain: there are no grain ears or leaves in her hair as one would expect, and the use of a simple sakkos as a hair ornament is what one would expect to see on a nymph. In any event, this head is a particularly noble one, both intelligent and kindly.
From a Swiss collection and from the B. in B. Collection, Nomos 8, 22 October 2013, 20 and ex Bank Leu 33, 3 May 1983, 201, , and from the collection of C. Gillet, 154.
Whether the head on this coin is really that of Demeter is uncertain: there are no grain ears or leaves in her hair as one would expect, and the use of a simple sakkos as a hair ornament is what one would expect to see on a nymph. In any event, this head is a particularly noble one, both intelligent and kindly.