Triton XV, Lot: 471. Estimate $150. Sold for $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Methylion. 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (12mm, 1.60 g, 4h). [M]-E-ʘ-Y from top r. down and circular, grain, its stem at the top / ME above, ИEK r. down, PA retrograde below, ram standing r. on ground line. See CNG 81 (20 May 2009) 415 (note) and also Nomos 4, 1202 (same dies). Good Fine, brown patina; the obv. a little off centre and a die flaw across the exergue line on the reverse.

This coin and the four that follow are varieties of the bronze Methylion issue of Menekrates that was until recently attributed to Olea. It is highly unusual for a magistrate’s name to appear almost fully spelled out on a classical Thessalian bronze but, as implied above, Methylion never ceases to amaze us.