Classical Numismatic Group, LLC
Electronic Auction 450 21 Aug 2019
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WESTERN ASIA MINOR, Uncertain. 5th century BC. AR Hemiobol or Tetartemorion (6.5mm, 0.17 g, 1h). Crested helmet left / Amphora; pellets flaking base; all within incuse square. SNG Arikantürk 682 var. (no pellets; Neandria[?]); otherwise unpublished in the standard references. Dark find patina, a couple tiny edge chips. VF. Very rare.
Varieties of this type have appeared at auction in the past, and have been tentatively attributed to Neandria in Troas, where an early fraction featured a helmet on the obverse. While an attribution to a mint in that region is reasonable, Neandria is probably not correct, as its early fractions consistently feature a ram or barley grain on the reverse, which were emblematic of the city. At the same time, the nearby city of Larissa consistently featured an amphora on the reverse of nearly all of its coinage, which would make it a more likely candidate. Nonetheless, the presence of multiple examples of helmet-amphra fractions in the Arikantürk collection strongly support the attribution to a mint in this region.
Varieties of this type have appeared at auction in the past, and have been tentatively attributed to Neandria in Troas, where an early fraction featured a helmet on the obverse. While an attribution to a mint in that region is reasonable, Neandria is probably not correct, as its early fractions consistently feature a ram or barley grain on the reverse, which were emblematic of the city. At the same time, the nearby city of Larissa consistently featured an amphora on the reverse of nearly all of its coinage, which would make it a more likely candidate. Nonetheless, the presence of multiple examples of helmet-amphra fractions in the Arikantürk collection strongly support the attribution to a mint in this region.