Triton XV, Lot: 470. Estimate $100. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Methylion (?). 4th century BC. Æ Hemichalkous (?) (9.5mm, 0.83 g, 10h). Thessalos l., restraining a man-faced bull leaping l. with a band around his forehead; border of dots (not visible here) / M-E retrograde below; above l., [E] retrograde (or part of a monogram?); above r., X, club standing vertically, crossed by horizontal bow; all in shallow incuse square. Unpublished but see CNG e-sale 251 (9 March 2011) 18 (different dies but same hand). Fine, green patina; struck on a small flan, the rev. a little off centre, small spot of bronze disease on reverse; one of three known.

Methylion, like Skotoussa, surprises us with the diversity of unconventional coins it produced. Its later bronzes demonstrate die cutting of the highest quality; their fine line detail is not found on the bronzes of any other Thessalian mint. This particular issue is rather coarsely engraved and, if indeed it belongs to Methylion, it must be the product of special circumstances at a time when the mint could not afford the luxury of a normal issue.