Transitional Drachm
THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 460-420 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 4.79 g, 1h). Hero standing left, wrestling bull rushing left / Bridled horse prancing right; all within square incuse. BCD Thessaly 354.1 (this coin); Nomos 4, 1109 (same dies); SNG Lockett 1559 (same dies). VF, lightly toned. Good metal.
Ex BCD Collection (Triton XV, 3 January 2012), lot 354.1.
This coin is much lighter than its die duplicates that weigh 5.94 (Lockett) and 5.97 (Nomos 4). It has, of course, a little more wear than the above two coins but this small amount of extra wear does not justify the considerable weight difference. There is one other explanation that becomes even more credible when the dies of these three coins are carefully compared. The Nomos coin has a die flaw to the right of the petasos on the obverse and another one behind the horse on the reverse. The Lockett coin has just the obverse die flaw. This coin has neither which means that it is an earlier strike from these dies. Perhaps, the order (following the decision) to increase the weight of the coinage to the normal Aiginetan standard (or close to it) came after the start of the drachm production. The very first drachms would then adhere to the old, lighter standard and there would be no reason to recall them and melt them so that fewer and heavier coins would be struck. More research into the early dies of Larissa drachms will either corroborate or invalidate this theory.
