Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 145. Estimate CHF3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of LYDIA. temp. Alyattes II. Circa 610-560 BC. Hemihekte (Electrum, 1.16 g), Uncertain mint. Head and neck of lion with open jaws to right; field covered in small pellets Rev. Rough incuse square. Weidauer -. Possibly unpublished. Very rare. About extremely fine.

From the OBS collection, London.

This coin is both unusual and unexpected. The irregular dots that appear on the field behind the animal and on its fur are made in a manner that is rather different from those on Alyattes’ normal coinage, as Weidauer 79-85. As such it is rather unlikely to have been minted in the kingdom’s main mint at Sardes.