Sale: Nomos 1, Lot: 14. Estimate CHF10000.  Closing Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2009.  Sold For CHF30000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BRUTTIUM, Terina. Circa 460-440 BC. Stater (Silver, 7.83 g 2). ΤΕΡΕΣ (retrograde) Head of the nymph Terina to right, her hair bound with a thin fillet; around, olive wreath Rev. Nike, with spread wings, standing facing, her head to left, holding wreath with both hands. ACGC 708. HN III 2569. Holloway & Jenkins 4. Regling 3. Extremely rare. Nicely toned, the finest example known. Good very fine.

This is a fascinating coin because the styles on the two sides are surprisingly different. The nymph on the obverse is rather severe, in some ways like the early heads of Apollo on the coinage of Leontinoi and Katane; yet the head of the Nike on the reverse has a much more developed hairstyle, piled on top of her head and tied up with bands. The Nikes that appear at Terina probably refer to games rather than military victories.