Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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AETOLIA. Aetolian League. Ca. 250-225 BC. AR stater (22, 10.69 gm, 4h). Young male head right, wearing oak wreath; ΦΙ below neck truncation / AITΩΛΩN, Aetolus standing left, right foot on rock, partially draped with chlamys and with kausia hanging behind his back, holding spear in his right hand and with sword under his left arm. BCD 438. BMC Aetolia 9. Rare. Well struck in high relief from dies of excellent style. Choice metal quality, with attractive light toning. NGC XF 5/5 - 4/5.From The California Collection.The sparsely inhabited district of Aetolia in west-central Greece produced little history of note until the later fourth century BC, when its few towns and cities banded together to the form the Aetolian League for mutual defense against marauding Gauls and the growing power of Macedon. The league soon created its own federal currency, probably minted at its capital of Thermika. Obverse types were based on contemporary Hellenistic coinages, while reverses featured the hero Aetolus, son of Endymion, a legendary figure of Greek mythology who was variously a shepherd, hunter, and king. The male head on the obverse of these issues could also be Aetolus, or may represent Apollo; alternatively, it could be an actual portrait of a contemporary ruler, although which one is difficult to establish. Antigonus Gonatus and his son Demetrius Aetolicus have been proposed, but the Aetoleans were usually warring with Macedon and it is unlikely they would so honor one of its kings. Antiochus III of Syria, who allied with the Aetoleans against the Romans in circa 190 BC, has also been proposed, but the alliance seems to post-date this coinage.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD
AETOLIA. Aetolian League. Ca. 250-225 BC. AR stater (22, 10.69 gm, 4h). Young male head right, wearing oak wreath; ΦΙ below neck truncation / AITΩΛΩN, Aetolus standing left, right foot on rock, partially draped with chlamys and with kausia hanging behind his back, holding spear in his right hand and with sword under his left arm. BCD 438. BMC Aetolia 9. Rare. Well struck in high relief from dies of excellent style. Choice metal quality, with attractive light toning. NGC XF 5/5 - 4/5.From The California Collection.The sparsely inhabited district of Aetolia in west-central Greece produced little history of note until the later fourth century BC, when its few towns and cities banded together to the form the Aetolian League for mutual defense against marauding Gauls and the growing power of Macedon. The league soon created its own federal currency, probably minted at its capital of Thermika. Obverse types were based on contemporary Hellenistic coinages, while reverses featured the hero Aetolus, son of Endymion, a legendary figure of Greek mythology who was variously a shepherd, hunter, and king. The male head on the obverse of these issues could also be Aetolus, or may represent Apollo; alternatively, it could be an actual portrait of a contemporary ruler, although which one is difficult to establish. Antigonus Gonatus and his son Demetrius Aetolicus have been proposed, but the Aetoleans were usually warring with Macedon and it is unlikely they would so honor one of its kings. Antiochus III of Syria, who allied with the Aetoleans against the Romans in circa 190 BC, has also been proposed, but the alliance seems to post-date this coinage.
Estimate: 3000-4000 USD