Orthe. Lot of 3 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 496. Estimate $100. Sold for $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Orthe (IACP 405)

Orthe should not be confused with the Homeric city of Orthe, which was probably the original name of Phalanna. Virtually no archaeological remains are known from it aside from coins. The city struck bronzes in the mid 4th century as well as in the late 4th-early 3rd centuries BC.

The reverse types of the city’s coinage refer to Poseidon (see Nomos 4, 1219, showing the trident), and the first horse, Skyphios. Two versions of this myth exist. According to one version (Schol. Apoll. Rhod. 3.1244), which is similar to a version known at Athens and which was illustrated in the pediment of the Parthenon's west facade, Poseidon created the first horse, Skyphios, when he struck the earth with his trident. Another, perhaps more ancient and more localized version (Schol. Pind. Pyth. 4.246), relates that the god, while sleeping, impregnated a rock in Thessaly; Skyphios sprang from this impregnated rock.

Lot of 3 coins.

(496.1) THESSALY, Orthe. First half of the 4th century BC. Æ Dichalkon (14mm, 4.13 g, 4h). Head of Athena r., wearing Attic helmet with ear flaps lowered, banker’s mark applied by a hollow tube / OP to r. downwards, ʘI to l. upwards, trident pointing upwards in olive wreath tying down. This early type unpublished in the reference literature consulted. Good Fine, light green patina with some rough areas and breaks.

The earliest coins of Orthe, unpublished up to now, can be recognized by their thick flans, barely containing the large Athena head, and their ‘banker’s mark’, a circular countermark on the obverse, similar to the mark that is often encountered on the drachms of Pharsalos. The four letters of the ethnic always have the same disposition, a rule that is not observed on the reverse dies of the later bronzes with the same types.

(496.2) THESSALY, Orthe. First half of the 4th century BC. Æ Dichalkon (15mm, 4.58 g, 1h). Head of Athena r., wearing Attic helmet with ear flaps lowered, banker’s mark applied by a hollow tube / OP to r. downwards, ʘI to l. upwards, trident pointing upwards in olive wreath tying down. This early type unpublished in the reference literature consulted. Near VF, green patina with an edge break on the rev. between 3 and 5 o’clock; also a similar smaller flaw on Athena’s mouth.


(496.3) THESSALY, Orthe. First half of the 4th century BC. Æ Dichalkon (15mm, 4.14 g, 6h). Head of Athena r., wearing Attic helmet with ear flaps lowered, banker’s mark applied by a hollow tube / OP to r. downwards, ʘI to l. upwards, trident pointing upwards in olive wreath tying down. This early type unpublished in the reference literature consulted. Good Fine, uniform light green patina with discreet light brown earthen tones.