Triton XV, Lot: 130. Estimate $1500. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. 479/475 - circa 460 BC. AR Drachm (16.5mm, 5.35 g, 10h). Horse with lowered head, grazing l. on dotted ground line, above, pheasant-like bird to r. but upside down, all in dotted circle / ΛΑ below to r., RΙ above and upside down, sandal of Jason to l., all in shallow incuse square. Herrmann pl. I, 1 (same dies); Jameson 1084 (same dies); Traité I, 1410, pl. XLIII, 1 (same dies). Good VF, lightly toned and well centred, slightly rough surfaces but a pleasing example and quite rare.

This is the second of the three known symbols on the archaic drachms of Larissa and the most difficult to identify precisely. A “pheasant-like bird” is the best guess but even so, the reason for choosing this and not an eagle or a dove - much commoner in coin iconography - escapes us.