Triton XV, Lot: 572. Estimate $150. Sold for $500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Phalanna. Mid 4th century BC. AR Obol (10mm, 0.79 g, 12h). Youthful male head r., border of dots / Φ-AΛANNAIΩN from above l., to r. and circular, head of nymph r., wearing earring resembling a bunch of grapes and a beaded necklace, her hair is gathered up and bound in a sakkos tying behind her head. See Nomos 4, 1252.2 (same obv. die). Good Fine, lightly toned; porous surfaces, especially on the obv. that also has a scratch on the field to the r., very rare.

Ex Harlan Berk BBS 81 (31 March 1994) 141, hammer $200.

As already mentioned in the BCD note to lot 1252 of Nomos 4, these obols, when found, tend to be in really poor condition, not because of excessive circulation but mainly due to surface erosion. The same applies to the majority, if not the entirety, of Thessalian silver fractions as they are very rarely found in hoards but instead, because they were lost singly and individually, have been exposed to the elements or the chemical fertilizers that are widely used in modern agriculture.