Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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PHOKIS. Delphi. mid to late 5th century BC. Trihemiobol (Silver, 11.5 mm, 1.39 g, 12 h). Ram's head to right; below, dolphin swimming to right. Rev. Goat's head, with curved horns and a prominent beard, facing between two dolphins swimming upwards, their backs curved in toward the goat's head; all within an incuse square. BCD Phokis 380 var. SNG Lockett 1714. Toned and very attractive. Obverse struck very slightly off-center, otherwise, about extremely fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex The New York Sale I, 3 December 1998, 104 and Schweizerischer Bankverein 38, Zürich, 12 September 1995, 154, and from the collections of L. Deglatigny, Feuardent Frères, 16 November 1937, 79 and Dr. V..., Bourgey, 3 December 1928, 74.
The ram's head on the obverse may actually be a rhyton in the form of a ram's head, like those on the famous tridrachms. As such it represent the Persian spoils dedicated in the sanctuary in Delphi after the defeat of the Persian invasion. The dolphins are allusions to Apollo, and the ram may refer to the legend that oracle was discovered by a shepherd who noticed that his goats became excited by vapours coming from a cleft in the ground at the site of Delphi.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex The New York Sale I, 3 December 1998, 104 and Schweizerischer Bankverein 38, Zürich, 12 September 1995, 154, and from the collections of L. Deglatigny, Feuardent Frères, 16 November 1937, 79 and Dr. V..., Bourgey, 3 December 1928, 74.
The ram's head on the obverse may actually be a rhyton in the form of a ram's head, like those on the famous tridrachms. As such it represent the Persian spoils dedicated in the sanctuary in Delphi after the defeat of the Persian invasion. The dolphins are allusions to Apollo, and the ram may refer to the legend that oracle was discovered by a shepherd who noticed that his goats became excited by vapours coming from a cleft in the ground at the site of Delphi.