Very Rare Tetradrachm in the Name of the Thracians

262, Lot: 10. Estimate $1000. Sold for $1700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACE, “The Thracians”. Circa 88 BC. AR Tetradrachm (34mm, 16.32 g, 11h). Wreathed head of young Dionysos right / Herakles standing facing, head left, holding club, with lion skin draped over arm; monogram to inner left. Youroukova 146; AMNG II p. 1, 1 var. (M in left field). VF, double struck on obverse, slightly wavy flan. Very rare .

In the first century BC, Mithradates VI of Pontus sought to supplant Rome as the dominant power in Anatolia and Greece. His antagonism soon drew a challenge from Rome, miring the northeastern Mediterranean in a series of wars. These conflicts necessitated large issues of coinage from several locations, including Thrace. Rather than create their own types, “The Thracians” chose to copy the regionally accepted tetradrachms of Thasos, replacing the island’s ethnic with their own.