Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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ISLANDS OFF ELIS, Kephallenia. Kranion. late 5th century BC. Obol (Silver, 7 mm, 0.42 g). Ram's hoof; all within border of dots. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Naville I, 1876 = Pozzi (Boutin) 4166 = Traité II, 3, 1228 and pl. CCXXXVII, 13. Extremely rare. Very well-struck in high relief, a pleasing coin, attractively toned. Extremely fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions.
This coin was acquired as being an "uncertain Thrace-Macedonian" hemiobol, but was then, perhaps with greater likelihood, assigned to Thessaly. Unfortunately, neither of those attributions are particularly convincing! We, along with a number of other scholars, have chosen a third identification, that of E. Babelon in Traité II, 3: the city of Kranion on Kephallenia. The ram's hoof is a known type of Kranion's (see the following lot) - on the contrary, the quadripartite incuse square on the reverse is otherwise unknown for Kranion (or anywhere else on Kephallenia); though it is equally unlikely for a northern Greek mint or a Thessalian one. Nevertheless, since Babelon's attributions tend to be more right than wrong, we have accepted it here.
However, during the cataloguing process, we were reminded that in 1985, in the IBSCC BOC 10/2, p. 11, fig. 6 an example of this type, from the same dies, was, among a group of fractions from Peloponnesian mints, declared to be a forgery! But is it?? The problem is that everyone who has seen this piece is quite convinced that it is actually genuine! In addition, the coins in the group published in the BOC included pieces, which were really obvious forgeries, but others that seemed manifestly real. In any case, since the dies used for this coin are not the same as those used for the Pozzi coin (0.44 g), or for the piece that appeared as lot 377 in CNG 85 of 15 September 2010 (0.42 g), this coin is sold as is, with no right of return.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions.
This coin was acquired as being an "uncertain Thrace-Macedonian" hemiobol, but was then, perhaps with greater likelihood, assigned to Thessaly. Unfortunately, neither of those attributions are particularly convincing! We, along with a number of other scholars, have chosen a third identification, that of E. Babelon in Traité II, 3: the city of Kranion on Kephallenia. The ram's hoof is a known type of Kranion's (see the following lot) - on the contrary, the quadripartite incuse square on the reverse is otherwise unknown for Kranion (or anywhere else on Kephallenia); though it is equally unlikely for a northern Greek mint or a Thessalian one. Nevertheless, since Babelon's attributions tend to be more right than wrong, we have accepted it here.
However, during the cataloguing process, we were reminded that in 1985, in the IBSCC BOC 10/2, p. 11, fig. 6 an example of this type, from the same dies, was, among a group of fractions from Peloponnesian mints, declared to be a forgery! But is it?? The problem is that everyone who has seen this piece is quite convinced that it is actually genuine! In addition, the coins in the group published in the BOC included pieces, which were really obvious forgeries, but others that seemed manifestly real. In any case, since the dies used for this coin are not the same as those used for the Pozzi coin (0.44 g), or for the piece that appeared as lot 377 in CNG 85 of 15 September 2010 (0.42 g), this coin is sold as is, with no right of return.