Unrecorded Dies - Quickly Discarded
IONIA, Teos. Circa 510-500 BC. AR Staters (21mm, 11.88 g; 20mm, 11.84 g). Both coins: Griffin seated right, raising forepaw / Quadripartite incuse square. Balcer group I (unlisted dies); SNG Copenhagen -. VF, a few die breaks. Two (2) coins in lot, both struck from the same combination of dies (each unrecorded by Balcer), but at different states of die deterioration.
From the wear displayed by the example with more pronounced die breaks, this obverse die began to deteriorate almost immediately. A survey of other examples suggests that this was not an uncommon phenomenon in the early period of minting at Teos. This rapid deterioration of the die certainly limited its output, and is probably why there were no examples of it for Balcer to record. It is possible that these early dies were made from metal that was not suitable for the purpose of striking coins. By the early Classical period, though, this appears to have been rectified. A numismatically interesting offering.
