Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 1009. Estimate CHF100.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF1800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Thessalian League. Circa 170 BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 15mm, 3.68 g), Demetrias. Round shield of Macedonian form, ornamented with a star at the center and crescents at the edge. Rev. ΘΕΣΣΑ / ΛΩΝ Dart-sling, κεστροσφενδόνη, with pointed dart within. Rogers 4 var. (legend differently placed). Warren 1961, pp. 5-8 and pl. I, 11. Rare. Well struck and with a dark green patina. About extremely fine.

This coin, as Warren points out, commemorates the alliance between Perseus of Macedon and some areas in southern Thessaly, especially Dolopia. The sling was a speciality of certain Thessalian troops who used it very successfully against the Romans during the Third Macedonian War.