Unrecorded in Thompson

172, Lot: 35. Estimate $150. Sold for $410. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ATTICA, Athens. Circa 168/5-50 BC. AR New Style Tetradrachm (35mm, 16.64 g). Struck 147/146 BC. Helmeted head of Athena right / Owl standing right, head facing, on amphora; magistrates PAN, DW, LUSIA; forepart of bridled horse to right, unreadable mark on amphora, KE below amphora, all within wreath. Thompson 163 var. (same obverse die, not recorded with KE). Near VF, attractively toned, areas of striking weakness.

From The John A. Seeger Collection.

Thompson does not record any examples of this issue with the KE on the reverse, noting that the KE control mark is one of only three that is restricted to one year (p. 614), in this case the filleted thyrsos type that immediately follows bridled horse. She does note that the bridled horse / filleted thyrsos issues are one of the few cases in her Early Period where obverse dies are shared between years (die 169). It seems they also shared this rare control mark. Athens followed a complex system of die marking, with magistrates’ names, month letters and a system of subsidiary marks that may have indicated the source of the bullion used for coining.