Sale: CNG 81, Lot: 264. Estimate $200.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 20 May 2009.  Sold For $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACO-MACEDONIAN REGION, Uncertain. Early-mid 5th century BC. AR Drachm (3.40 g). Head and neck of ram right / Rough quadripartite(?) incuse square. Apparently unpublished. Near VF, rough surfaces.

The depiction of the ram on this coin is quite unusual, as typically the neck and head are aligned along the same axis, rather than the head being bent downward. The most similar in style are issues of Kebren, in Troas, and Salamis, on Cyprus. However, particular characteristics of the known issues from these mints clearly prevent attributing this piece to either location. The incuse issues of Kebren never depict the head bent downward, while Salamis does not use this type of incuse, and always depicts the ram left. The weight and fabric of this coin, moreover, suggest a mint in the Thraco-Macedonian region. In this region, issues of Maroneia often use a ram’s head as a type, but early issues typically place the ram on the reverse and a horse on the obverse. The unusual depiction of the ram here, as mentioned above, also poses problems for tentatively attributing this coin to Maroneia, as the ram’s head is consistently depicted at Maroneia with the head and neck along the same axis. Similarly. other archaic coins found in the region, tentatively attributed to Maroneia (cf. Triton XI, lot 91), also show the ram in the standard form. No other cities in the region are known to have used a ram as a standard type.