Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Islands off Thrace, Samothrace AR Hemidrachm. Circa 500-475 BC. Sphinx seated to left, raising right foreleg / Quadripartite incuse square. SNG Ashmolean 3638; Schwabacher 110, 2 (this coin); IGCH 696 (this coin included); SNG Lockett 1125; HGC 6, 303. 1.91g, 12mm.
Mint State; beautiful old cabinet tone. Extremely Rare.
This coin published in W. Schwabacher, Ein Fund archaischer Münzen von Samothrake, Transactions of the International Numismatic Congress 1936 (London, 1938);
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Dix Noonan Webb, Auction A10, 22 June 2011, lot 1011;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 28, 5 May 1981, lot 59;
Ex Ars Classica, Auction XVI, 3 July 1933, lot 959;
Ex Kiourpet hoard OF 1930 (IGCH 696).
Samothrace issued a relatively limited coinage in late archaic times: very rare didrachms, hemidrachms and fractions, most bearing a sphinx, others a head of Athena. The sphinx may have served as a city badge, a symbol of the famous sanctuary of the Great Mother on the island. The coins of Samothrace today are all very rare indeed, with only 21 of all denominations in silver recorded on CoinArchives. A near identical specimen sold in 2014 for £13,000 (Roma Numismatics Ltd, Auction VIII, lot 496).
Mint State; beautiful old cabinet tone. Extremely Rare.
This coin published in W. Schwabacher, Ein Fund archaischer Münzen von Samothrake, Transactions of the International Numismatic Congress 1936 (London, 1938);
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Dix Noonan Webb, Auction A10, 22 June 2011, lot 1011;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 28, 5 May 1981, lot 59;
Ex Ars Classica, Auction XVI, 3 July 1933, lot 959;
Ex Kiourpet hoard OF 1930 (IGCH 696).
Samothrace issued a relatively limited coinage in late archaic times: very rare didrachms, hemidrachms and fractions, most bearing a sphinx, others a head of Athena. The sphinx may have served as a city badge, a symbol of the famous sanctuary of the Great Mother on the island. The coins of Samothrace today are all very rare indeed, with only 21 of all denominations in silver recorded on CoinArchives. A near identical specimen sold in 2014 for £13,000 (Roma Numismatics Ltd, Auction VIII, lot 496).