Melitaia. Lot of 3 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 458. Estimate $150. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lot of 3 coins.

(458.1) THESSALY, Melitaia. 3rd quarter of the 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (13mm, 2.08 g, 1h). Laureate and bearded head of Zeus l., thunderbolt behind / E-M above, the letters sideways, Λ-I below, bee upwards, with outstretched wings. Rogers 398, fig. 209 var. [letters not reversed and style not as fine]. VF, dark green patina with surface pitting, well centred on a small flan and of superb style.

The Zeus portraits on this and the previous coin (lot 457) are the work of great artists and it is really strange that they are not signed. Perhaps the signing or not of a die depended on other criteria and conditions that are unknown to us today.

(458.2) THESSALY, Melitaia. Mid 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (13mm, 1.63 g, 3h). Bearded head of Zeus r. / Μ-Ε-Λ-Ι from bottom l., circular anticlockwise, bee upwards, with outstretched wings. Rogers 397. Near VF, glossy, black patina with a few minor blemishes; edge die flaw on rev. at 3 o’clock.

Acquired in London, May 1979, for £ 80 and originally the property of an Italian dealer.

Another impressive Zeus die that probably also has a thunderbolt behind it which here is off flan. A city that commissioned silver masterpieces such as the unique Boston drachm (no. 908 in the Brett catalogue) and the unique hemidrachm recently sold in Nomos 4, (no. 1198) could certainly afford to invite accomplished artists for the dies of its bronze coins.

(458.3) THESSALY, Melitaia. Mid to late 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (14.5mm, 2.16 g, 6h). Laureate and bearded head of Zeus l., thunderbolt behind / M-E above, Λ-I below, bee upwards, with outstretched wings. Weber 2876 (this coin). VF, light brown two-tone patina; a little softly struck but well centred and attractive. From the collections of Sir Hermann Weber and Virgil M. Brand.

Ex Sotheby’s 25 October 1984 (Brand 7) 301 (part).