iBelgica
Lansky Auction 3 5 Jan 2021
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Thrace. The Orrescii. 500-480 BC. AR Tristater (28.78g). Tzamalis D4.R4; Tradart JDL 12. Old cabinet tone. Perfectly centered and struck on a broad flan. An impressive and outstanding coin. Possibly the finest known. Choice extremely fine. From a private collection; former W.E. collection
This splendid tristater of the Orrescii - a tribe known only from its coinage - bears a composition that is virtually identical to that found on coins of the same denomination issued contemporarily by the Edones, the Ichnai and the Tyntenoi. The meaning of this pastoral design, which shows a naked, bearded man wearing a Causia and conducting two oxen, is not certainly known. It may be a herdsman or a local hero performing a feat from some local myth, more probably the god Hermes in the midst of stealing the cattle of the sun.
This splendid tristater of the Orrescii - a tribe known only from its coinage - bears a composition that is virtually identical to that found on coins of the same denomination issued contemporarily by the Edones, the Ichnai and the Tyntenoi. The meaning of this pastoral design, which shows a naked, bearded man wearing a Causia and conducting two oxen, is not certainly known. It may be a herdsman or a local hero performing a feat from some local myth, more probably the god Hermes in the midst of stealing the cattle of the sun.