Larissa. Lot of 9 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 381. Estimate $300. Sold for $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

This lot consists of eight ancient forgeries of early facing style drachms and an ancient fake imitating a hemidrachm denomination that looks as if it belongs somewhere between the early and the later facing heads. This collector was always fascinated by the ingeniousness that was behind the production of ancient fakes and never missed an opportunity to acquire them, sometimes at the full price of a genuine coin. Today, most of these coins could not fool anyone who specializes in the series, even when they are fully covered with the silver plating and have the correct weight. There are some cases though where fakes were struck with official dies and when these reach us in pristine condition and mixed with a large quantity of genuine coins in hoards, it is almost impossible to detect them if their weight is correct. Fortunately for us, it appears that the correct weight was a secondary consideration during the production of fakes in the ancient world and this makes sense as the average “man in the street” who would be the recipient of these fakes did not have the means to check the weight of a coin or coins he was being given in payment for goods or services.

Lot of 9 coins.

(381.1) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (18mm, 4.95 g, 3h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing r., border of dots / ΛΑΡ[I] above, horse with straight legs feeding r. on a solid exergue line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Group 1, Head Type l. Fine, plating is broken in several places.


(381.2) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (18mm, 4.40 g, 3h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots / [Λ]ΑΡIΣΑΙ above, horse with straight legs feeding r. on a solid exergue line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Group 1, Head Type 5. Fine, plating is broken in various areas.


(381.3) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (17mm, 4.16 g, 4h). AI above in small letters, head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots (not showing here) / [ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙ] below the exergue line, horse crouching r., preparing to roll. Imitating Lorber, Early, Head Type 11. Fine, plating is broken in numerous spots, scratches in the rev. field.


(381.4) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (22mm, 5.06 g, 12h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙA above, horse with straight legs l., feeding (?) on solid ground line. Two chop marks on the obverse. Imitating Lorber, Early, Head Type 14. Fine, plating is broken on the edges, a number of small test marks on the face.


(381.5) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (17.5mm, 4.24 g, 8h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing r., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙ above, horse with straight legs feeding r., on solid ground line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Head Type 19b. VF, attractively toned, small scratch on Larissa’a cheek, small breaks in the plating in the obv. and rev. fields.

Acquired from Bowers and Ruddy, July 1981, for $950; ex Numismatic Art and Ancient Coins, Catalogue No. 2, MBS, (15 May 1981) 32.


(381.6) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (19.5mm, 5.47 g, 10h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing r., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙ above, horse with straight legs feeding r., on solid ground line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Head Type 23. Fair, has been harshly cleaned, plating is broken in several spots.

Ex Frank Robinson MBS 70 (6 November 2007) 40, hammer $68.


(381.7) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (18.5mm, 5.65 g, 6h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙΣ above, horse with straight legs feeding r., on solid ground line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Group 6, Head Type 26. Fine, double struck, plating is broken is several spots.


(381.8) THESSALY, Larissa. Early to mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Drachm (10mm, 5.13 g, 7h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙ above, horse with straight legs feeding r., on solid ground line. Imitating Lorber, Early, Group 6, Head Type 27. Good Fine, toned, plating broken in several spots.


(381.9) THESSALY, Larissa. Mid 4th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (15mm, 2.36 g, 8h). Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., border of dots / ΛΑΡΙΣ above, [ΑΙΩΝ](?) in exergue, horse crouching r., preparing to roll. Obverse imitating Lorber, Early, Head Type 25 but reverse imitating the later hemidrachms. Fine, irregular toning, the result of improper cleaning.