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ANA Signature Sale 3075 15 Aug 2019
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Ancients
THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.43 gm, 12h). NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5. Ephesus, ca. 295/4-289/8 BC. Diademed head deified Alexander III right, wearing horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΛΥΣΙΜΑXOΥ, Athena seated left, Nike crowning royal name in right hand, resting left arm on grounded shield decorated with eight pointed star boss, transverse spear beyond; no control marks. Müller -. Thompson -. HGC 3, -. cf. Pozzi (Boutin) 2622. Excellent strike and centering on satiny flan. Extremely rare with only two examples in sales archives, including the present specimen.
The wave of hair across the brow and mostly bare neck are a great departure in style to all other depictions of deified Alexander with horn. Goldberg (Auction 60, 21 September 2010, lot 2312) placed their example at an unknown mint, 3rd century BC, and proposed Pella for the style of the reverse, but a provincial mint for the obverse. When Nomos resold the coin in Auction 15 (22 October 2017, lot 50), it was described as from an uncertain mint, probably in Asia Minor with the following notes: "Exactly who is meant to be portrayed on the obverse of this coin is uncertain; what we can say is that it is certainly NOT Alexander! The short hair on the back of the neck makes this coin look much more like a Seleucid king or, even, a Cappadocian one, than any typical head of Alexander. One wonders whether it could be someone like Hierax, or even Ariarathes IV. A number of posthumous staters of Philip II are known bearing distinctively individual portraits, paired with Philip's own name, so the possibility of this coin being discretely struck in the name of the deceased Lysimachos, but bearing the portrait of a contemporary ruler would be quite reasonable."
When Classical Numismatic Group offered the present coin, they proposed a compelling argument, which we have reused for the attribution to Ephesus - "Although there are no control marks on this issue, the distinct and unusual portrait style here--with the long downswept hair on the forehead, and mostly bare neck--is identical to that found on many tetradrachms of Thompson 166–7 (cf. Bement 897) and their associated drachms (Thompson –, but cf. Triton XVIII, lots 3 and 423). It is likely that the staters of Thompson 165, which also belongs to the same issue as the aforementioned silver, will have a similar obverse style, and possibly a die match, but no examples can be located of that issue (which may be an erroneous entry in Thompson's listings)."
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-thracian-kingdom-lysimachus-305-281-bc-av-stater-18mm-843-gm-12h-ngc-msand-9733-5-5-4-5/a/3075-32016.s?type=CoinArchives3075
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
THRACIAN KINGDOM. Lysimachus (305-281 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.43 gm, 12h). NGC MS★ 5/5 - 4/5. Ephesus, ca. 295/4-289/8 BC. Diademed head deified Alexander III right, wearing horn of Ammon / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΛΥΣΙΜΑXOΥ, Athena seated left, Nike crowning royal name in right hand, resting left arm on grounded shield decorated with eight pointed star boss, transverse spear beyond; no control marks. Müller -. Thompson -. HGC 3, -. cf. Pozzi (Boutin) 2622. Excellent strike and centering on satiny flan. Extremely rare with only two examples in sales archives, including the present specimen.
The wave of hair across the brow and mostly bare neck are a great departure in style to all other depictions of deified Alexander with horn. Goldberg (Auction 60, 21 September 2010, lot 2312) placed their example at an unknown mint, 3rd century BC, and proposed Pella for the style of the reverse, but a provincial mint for the obverse. When Nomos resold the coin in Auction 15 (22 October 2017, lot 50), it was described as from an uncertain mint, probably in Asia Minor with the following notes: "Exactly who is meant to be portrayed on the obverse of this coin is uncertain; what we can say is that it is certainly NOT Alexander! The short hair on the back of the neck makes this coin look much more like a Seleucid king or, even, a Cappadocian one, than any typical head of Alexander. One wonders whether it could be someone like Hierax, or even Ariarathes IV. A number of posthumous staters of Philip II are known bearing distinctively individual portraits, paired with Philip's own name, so the possibility of this coin being discretely struck in the name of the deceased Lysimachos, but bearing the portrait of a contemporary ruler would be quite reasonable."
When Classical Numismatic Group offered the present coin, they proposed a compelling argument, which we have reused for the attribution to Ephesus - "Although there are no control marks on this issue, the distinct and unusual portrait style here--with the long downswept hair on the forehead, and mostly bare neck--is identical to that found on many tetradrachms of Thompson 166–7 (cf. Bement 897) and their associated drachms (Thompson –, but cf. Triton XVIII, lots 3 and 423). It is likely that the staters of Thompson 165, which also belongs to the same issue as the aforementioned silver, will have a similar obverse style, and possibly a die match, but no examples can be located of that issue (which may be an erroneous entry in Thompson's listings)."
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-thracian-kingdom-lysimachus-305-281-bc-av-stater-18mm-843-gm-12h-ngc-msand-9733-5-5-4-5/a/3075-32016.s?type=CoinArchives3075
HID02906262019
© 2019 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD