Fourth Known Coin of Ziailas

Triton XIV, Lot: 260. Estimate $500. Sold for $1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of BITHYNIA. Ziailas. Circa 250-230 BC. Æ (17mm, 4.92 g, 12h). Diademed head right / BAΣIΛEΩΣ ZIΛHΛA, trophy. RG 8 = T. Reinach, “Essai sur la numismatique des rois de Bithynie,” RN 1887, pl. V, 4; EHC 416; SNG von Aulock 243; SNG Copenhagen -; BMC -. Near VF, dark green patina, soft strike on obverse. Extremely rare, possibly the fourth known, with two in museum collections (Berlin and Vienna).

Ziailas is the third king of Bithynia, successor to Nicomedes I, and the second king to strike coinage. Unlike Nicomedes before him, who produced coinage in both silver and bronze in multiple denominations, Ziailas is only known from a handful of bronze coins, all of the same denomination and types as the present coin. Almost nothing is known of his reign, and his specific dates of rule are uncertain.