Extremely Rare Helmet Hekte

Triton XIV, Lot: 283. Estimate $1000. Sold for $4000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 625/0-522 BC. EL Hekte – 1/6 Stater (9mm, 2.58 g). Helmeted head left; to right, seal upward / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 6 (unlisted dies) = Münzen und Medaillen FPL 201, no. 240; Tkalec (29 February 2000), lot 126. Near EF, minor die wear on obverse. Extremely rare issue, the third known.

From the N.T. Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Group 57 (4 April 2001), lot 491 (misattributed as Bodenstedt Em. 30).

There are four emissions in Bodenstedt with this type, emissions 6, 15, 30, and 50. The latter three share common characteristics: there is a crest on the helmet, the bowl is adorned with some ornament, the eye is better formed (rather than a dot), and the seal is below the helmet. None of these characteristics are found on the first emission of this type, which features a helmet without crest, no ornamentation on the bowl, an eye formed of a large dot, and the seal is to the right of the helmet. Additionally, the incuse on the reverse is also distinctly different from the later emissions.