Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXVII 22-23 Mar 2023
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Thessaly, Perrhaiboi AR Hemidrachm. Circa mid 5th century BC. Male figure holding bull leaping to right / Forepart of bridled horse to left; ΠΕRA retrograde around; all within incuse square. BCD Thessaly II, 540 = HGC 4, 138 (this coin). 2.74g, 14mm, 1h.
Near Very Fine; porous surfaces.
This coin published in O. D. Hoover, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 4: The Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Greece (Lancaster PA, 2014);
From the EJP Collection;
Ex BCD Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 540.
This coin was first of the three known specimens of this type to come to market at Triton XV, 450. It seems unpublished, apart from the three known to be in private hands, all struck from the same dies: this specimen; CNG e-Auction 311 (25 September 2013), 235 (also from the BCD collection); and Roma XXV (22 September 2022), 172.
The 5th-century bull-wrestling series issued by several Thessalian cities and the Perrhaiboi followed a neat convention of indicating smaller denominations by decreasing the amount of the bull and his wrestler depicted on the obverse. Thus the drachms show the complete bull and his wrestler, while the hemidrachms have only the wrestler and the bull's forepart. Further reductions indicate obols and hemiobols, the latter of which bear only the bull's hoof. Similarly on the reverse the amount of horse engraved decreased as the denomination decreased. This made it easy for the user of the coins to know quickly the value of what he/she had in their hand. This obverse of the Perrhaiboi is, however, unique amongst all the Thessalian hemidrachms from the series because it resembles a miniature drachm. Was this intentional? Or did the die cutter not know the convention and in the absence of clear instructions engraved a complete bull? He (assuming the same worker was responsible for both dies) was aware of the similar convention governing how much of the horse was depicted on the reverse, as the usual forepart duly appears.
BCD was correct in highlighting the penchant of the Perrhaiboi for "improvisation". Their liking for innovation during the period when they minted bull wrestling types is clear. Some of their obols replace the usual bull's head and neck on the obverse with the forepart of a wolf: e.g. BCD Triton XV, 538. And the obverse of the obol of Triton XV, 539.1, on which the entire forepart of the bull is shown in a lively gallop, is highly distinctive.
In his note on this coin, BCD drew attention to the placing of the bull in the foreground, rather than on the far side of the wrestler, as another example of the Perrhaiboi's liking for innovation. This, however, is not so very unusual and is paralleled on some of the early taurokathapsia hemidrachms of Larissa (e.g. Triton XV, 356.2; 357.3) and also on some of Larissa's archaic-style drachms (e.g. Triton XV, 355.1-2); so too at Pherai and Pelinna. (note provided by EJP).
Near Very Fine; porous surfaces.
This coin published in O. D. Hoover, The Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, Volume 4: The Handbook of Coins of Northern and Central Greece (Lancaster PA, 2014);
From the EJP Collection;
Ex BCD Collection, Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XV, 3 January 2012, lot 540.
This coin was first of the three known specimens of this type to come to market at Triton XV, 450. It seems unpublished, apart from the three known to be in private hands, all struck from the same dies: this specimen; CNG e-Auction 311 (25 September 2013), 235 (also from the BCD collection); and Roma XXV (22 September 2022), 172.
The 5th-century bull-wrestling series issued by several Thessalian cities and the Perrhaiboi followed a neat convention of indicating smaller denominations by decreasing the amount of the bull and his wrestler depicted on the obverse. Thus the drachms show the complete bull and his wrestler, while the hemidrachms have only the wrestler and the bull's forepart. Further reductions indicate obols and hemiobols, the latter of which bear only the bull's hoof. Similarly on the reverse the amount of horse engraved decreased as the denomination decreased. This made it easy for the user of the coins to know quickly the value of what he/she had in their hand. This obverse of the Perrhaiboi is, however, unique amongst all the Thessalian hemidrachms from the series because it resembles a miniature drachm. Was this intentional? Or did the die cutter not know the convention and in the absence of clear instructions engraved a complete bull? He (assuming the same worker was responsible for both dies) was aware of the similar convention governing how much of the horse was depicted on the reverse, as the usual forepart duly appears.
BCD was correct in highlighting the penchant of the Perrhaiboi for "improvisation". Their liking for innovation during the period when they minted bull wrestling types is clear. Some of their obols replace the usual bull's head and neck on the obverse with the forepart of a wolf: e.g. BCD Triton XV, 538. And the obverse of the obol of Triton XV, 539.1, on which the entire forepart of the bull is shown in a lively gallop, is highly distinctive.
In his note on this coin, BCD drew attention to the placing of the bull in the foreground, rather than on the far side of the wrestler, as another example of the Perrhaiboi's liking for innovation. This, however, is not so very unusual and is paralleled on some of the early taurokathapsia hemidrachms of Larissa (e.g. Triton XV, 356.2; 357.3) and also on some of Larissa's archaic-style drachms (e.g. Triton XV, 355.1-2); so too at Pherai and Pelinna. (note provided by EJP).