Unique Hemidrachm

Sale: CNG 75, Lot: 476. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 23 May 2007.  Sold For $275. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Arados(?). Circa 241/0-110/09 BC. AR Hemidrachm (1.83 g, 12h). Dated CY 30 (230/29 BC). Turreted head of Tyche right / Prow left; monogram above, Phoenician date below. Cf. Duyrat 1578-1601; cf. Rouvier 121-5; SNG Copenhagen -. VF, porous. Unique.

Hemidrachms with these types are only known at the mint of Arados. The date of this coin places it squarely within this rare Aradian series of dated hemidrachms. The style is also consistent. All of the Aradian coins, however, have a monogram of the ethnic (alpha-rho) above the prow, unlike our coin, which has a gamma-beta (or beta-gamma) monogram above the prow. Thus, the coin may be a heretofore unknown parallel issue at Byblos (also known as Gebal). On the other hand, Byblos was not an active mint during this period. Furthermore, Duyrat does not list any of these hemidrachms between the dates of CY 26 and 42, and the ethnic may have been replaced with a control monogram during this time.