Larissa. Lot of 10 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 372. Estimate $1000. Sold for $5500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lot of 10 coins.

(372.1) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 5.90 g, 6h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a dotted circle / ΛΑΡΙ above, ΣΑΙΑ below, bridled horse with trailing rein prancing r., no ground line, all in shallow incuse square. SNG Fitzwilliam 2394. Good VF, nice toning; the head of Thessalos weakly struck but the reverse unusually complete and well struck.

Ex Spink 39 (6 December 1984) 45, hammer £850.

The reverse of this coin always reminded this collector of Ernest Babelons words in his Traité 2, IV, p. 373: “...le type du cheval, sur certaines monnaies de Larisse, est un véritable chef-d’œuvre de gravure”.

(372.2) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 5.85 g, 3h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots / ΛΑ above, ΡΙΣ retrograde below, bridled horse prancing r., all in incuse square. CH VIII 137, pl. XII, 6 (this coin). VF, toned, a scratch on the obv. at 9 o’clock, the head of Thessalos weakly struck.

The combination of this transitional reverse die with an obverse of developed style confirms the placing of this obverse die as the first in the series of the late taurokathapsia group. Same obverse die as lot 372.3 below.

(372.3) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (19.5mm, 5.98 g, 6h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots / ΛΑΡ above, ΙΣΑ below, bridled horse prancing r., all in incuse square. Boston MFA 882 (same dies); see also Joseph Hamburger 17 June 1908, 457 (same dies). VF, lightly toned; an attractive coin without blemishes, just circulation wear.

Same obverse die as lot 372.2 above

(372.4) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 5.93 g, 9h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots / ΛΑΡ above, [Ι]ΣΑ below, upside down and retrograde, bridled horse prancing r., all in shallow incuse square. CH VIII (1994) 137, pl. XII, 7 (this coin); Traité IV, 662, pl. CCXCVI, 19 (same dies). Good VF, lightly toned with a scratch on rev. and some peripheral roughness from 6 to 7 o’clock on reverse and 7 to 8 o’clock on obverse.


(372.5) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 5.77 g, 8h). Thessalos to l., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping l., in field l., graffiti ΙΠ, the letters divided by the bull’s left foreleg; all within a border of dots / ΛΑΡ above, Ι to r., ΣΑΙΑ below, bridled horse prancing r., all in incuse square. Boston MFA 887 var. [slightly different letter arrangement]. VF, has been cleaned and beginning to tone, surfaces a bit porous.


(372.6) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 5.25 g, 12h). Thessalos to l., naked but for chlamys and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping l., all within a border of dots / ΛΑ above, ΙΑ below, bridled horse prancing r., no ground line; all in incuse square. No exact reference found in literature. Near VF, lightly toned, surfaces a bit porous; head of horse partly off flan, arrow-like graffiti on rev. below horse’s hind legs.

A very rare obv. die in the manner of the obv. die of lot 370.3, but probably unrecorded.

(372.7) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (21.5mm, 6.07 g, 9h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots (not visible here) / ΛΑΡΙ above, Σ to r., ΙΑ below, bridled horse with trailing rein r., no ground line, all in a shallow incuse square. Lorber, Thessalian, pl. 43, 59 (same dies). VF, lightly toned with some peripheral reverse roughness between 7 and 8 o’clock.


(372.8) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 5.97 g, 6h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots (not visible here) / ΛΑΡΙ above, Σ to r. downwards, ΙΑ below, bridled horse with trailing rein r., no ground line, all in a flat field without any trace of incuse or concavity. Lorber, Thessalian, pl. 43, 59 (same obv. die and very similar [same hand] reverse die). VF, lightly toned, the obv. a little crowded on a tight flan; traces of porosity in the fields.

The reverse has no indication of incuse or even some field concavity. This must have been amongst the latest issues of the taurokathapsia type before inaugurating the early facing heads. This writer though believes that the two types ran parallel for a certain period of time.

(372.9) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (20mm, 6.17 g, 6h). Thessalos to r., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping r., all within a border of dots / ΛΑΡ-Ι above, Σ-Α to r. downwards, bridled horse trotting r. on ground line, its tail upwards and curled; above, graffiti ΙΦ; all in shallow incuse square. Winterthur 1694 (same dies); see also M+M FPL 182 (August 1958) 8 and Helbing FPL 17, [early 1930’s] 228 (both from the same dies); for the same obverse die coupled with a reverse from the same hand that engraved the reverse die of this coin, see Nomos 4, 1129. VF, very lightly toned with a die flaw under the Ρ on the rev. and two more scratches or attempts for graffiti behind the horse; all in an incuse square.

The fact that the reverse die of this coin and of the above mentioned Nomos 4, piece were coupled with a taurokathapsia type obverse suggests that the high relief profile drachms such as Nomos 4, 1133 - 1134 and lots 183 and 184 above were struck at the same time as the latest taurokathapsia issues.

(372.10) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 5.90 g, 6h). Thessalos to l., naked but for chlamys over his shoulders, his petasos attached to a cord around his neck and flying in the air behind him, holding a band with both hands around the forehead of a bull leaping l., all within a border of dots / ΛΑΡ above, Ι horizontal to r., ΙΑΣ below, bridled horse with trailing rein r., no ground line, all in a shallow incuse square. SNG Delepierre 1108 (same rev. die). Good Fine, very lightly toned, obv. marginally off centre; the horse’s head on the rev. partly off flan; a very rare reverse legend variety.