Sale: Nomos 2, Lot: 90. Estimate CHF2500.  Closing Date: Monday, 17 May 2010.  Sold For CHF2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ARGOLIS, Argos. Circa 490s/480s-470s BC. Triobol (Silver, 3.08 g 12). Forepart of wolf at bay to left. Rev. Alpha, with bar sloping to the right and with two pellets, within a shallow incuse square with two deeper incuse squares in the upper part . BMC 8. BCD Peloponnesos 1008 (this coin). Traité I, 1204, pl. XXXVII, 21 (= de Luynes 2291, same dies). Very rare and attractively toned. Extremely fine.

From the BCD Collection, LHS 96, 8 May 2006, 1008 and ex Kovacs FPL 17, December 1982, 21.

The early triobols of Argos were struck in relatively large numbers but were in use until the 3rd century BC; thus, they usually appear in miserable condition. Really good ones, like this example, are truly very rare, indeed. In over a generation of assiduous collecting BCD was able to view hundreds of triobols from this period, the majority of which were in no better than Fine condition (most were worse): extremely fine examples like this one virtually never appeared. This is one of the best pieces he possessed.