Ex Niggeler, Jameson, and Evans Collections

Sale: CNG 82, Lot: 259. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 16 September 2009.  Sold For $8000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BRUTTIUM, Lokroi Epizephyrioi. Time of Pyrrhos of Epeiros. Circa 281-272 BC. AR Nomos (7.44 g, 9h). Struck circa 275 BC. Laureate head of Zeus left; NE monogram below / Roma seated right, wearing sword and resting arm on shield at her side; to right, Lokroi (as Pistis) standing left, crowning Roma with wreath. HN Italy 2347; SNG ANS 531; Jameson 449 (this coin). Near EF, attractively toned. Very rare.

Ex Walter Niggeler Collection (Part 1, Leu & Münzen und Medaillen, 3 December 1965), lot 82; R. Jameson Collection, 449; Sir Arthur Evans Collection.

This remarkable type commemorates the alliance of Lokris with Rome during the time Pyrrhos of Epeiros was campaigning against Rome in southern Italy. Initially an ally of Pyrrhos, Lokris eventually changed her allegiance, and thereby received favorable treatment by the Romans after the war. Contemporary commemorations of specific historical events are very rare in Greek coinage.