The New York Sale
Auction 30 9 January 2013
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ANCIENT COINS. GREEK. Thraco-Macedonian Region, Uncertain Mint (Olynthos?) (c.510 B.C.), Silver Tetradrachm, 16.98g. Charioteer, wearing a long chiton, holding a kentron in his right hand and reins in his left, driving a quadriga right, a thick pellet above, two exergual bars below. Rev. Large incuse square diagonally divided into four triangles, surface granulated (H.A. Cahn, ' "Olynthos" and Syracuse', in Essays to Thompson, pl. 2, 1, 1a (this coin)). Very fine. Unique and extremely important.
This coin published in '"Olynthos" and Syracuse', in Essays to Thompson (H.A. Cahn, 1979), p.47, illustrated on pl. 2, 1, 1a.
From an unknown hoard found prior to 1903
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 81, Zurich, 16 May 2001, lot 169
Apart from being extremely rare, it is clear that this very important issue served as a prototype for the early issues of Syracuse (see Boehringer 1 and the next lot for the earliest Syracusan issues). This coin is the very earliest of the issue that has traditionally been attributed to Olynthos, although Cahn argued that there is no firm evidence to support this. The fabric is however clearly Thraco-Macedonian, so it is perhaps more accurate to describe it as such.
This coin has an interesting history, having been offered to E.P. Warren in 1903 before residing in an English collection until the early 1970s. Cahn was able to study a plaster cast of the coin offered to Warren, currently in the Berlin museum, and was able to confirm that it was indeed the same coin as the example offered here.
Estimate: $18,000
This coin published in '"Olynthos" and Syracuse', in Essays to Thompson (H.A. Cahn, 1979), p.47, illustrated on pl. 2, 1, 1a.
From an unknown hoard found prior to 1903
Ex Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 81, Zurich, 16 May 2001, lot 169
Apart from being extremely rare, it is clear that this very important issue served as a prototype for the early issues of Syracuse (see Boehringer 1 and the next lot for the earliest Syracusan issues). This coin is the very earliest of the issue that has traditionally been attributed to Olynthos, although Cahn argued that there is no firm evidence to support this. The fabric is however clearly Thraco-Macedonian, so it is perhaps more accurate to describe it as such.
This coin has an interesting history, having been offered to E.P. Warren in 1903 before residing in an English collection until the early 1970s. Cahn was able to study a plaster cast of the coin offered to Warren, currently in the Berlin museum, and was able to confirm that it was indeed the same coin as the example offered here.
Estimate: $18,000