CNG 102, Lot: 310. Estimate $500. Sold for $360. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ACHAIA, Patrai. Circa 31 BC. AR Hemidrachm (16mm, 2.53 g, 7h). Agys, son of Aischrion, magistrate. Laureate head of Zeus right / AΓVC/AI-CXPI/ωNOC in three lines around ΠA monogram; all within elaborately bound laurel wreath with ties above and two rostra below. BCD Peloponnesos 534 (this coin); HGC 5, 58. EF, attractively toned.

From the Allan Smith, M.D. Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 93 (22 May 2013), lot 320; BCD Collection (LHS 96, 8 May 2006), lot 534; Spink America (6 December 1999), lot 636 (part of).

This coin is from a massive issue that was struck in an apparently hasty manner, a fact suggested by the relatively crude dies that were often overused. Many of the known examples are poorly struck, another indication of haste. BCD suggested that this magistrate produced these coins around 31 BC, and that the elaborate, diadem-like wreath on the reverse was a reference to Agrippa’s naval victory over the forces of Antony and Cleopatra.