Phalanna. Lot of 2 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 590. Estimate $150. Sold for $2250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lot of 2 coins.

(590.1) THESSALY, Phalanna. 3rd quarter of the 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (14.5mm, 2.63 g, 5h). [ΠE]ΛO[PEΣ] from below, l. up and circular, head of Zeus Peloris r. / ΦAΛ l. up, A[NN] r. down, the nymph Phalanna seated r. on a chair, holding mirror in her l., about to arrange her hair with her r. Papaevangelou-Genakos period 2, plate 2, 18 (this coin, otherwise unknown and unpublished); see Nomos 4, 1261(same hand and perhaps same rev. die). Near VF, green-brown patina with some marks in the fields, mostly on reverse; a rare coin with a charming subject.


(590.2) THESSALY, Phalanna. 3rd quarter of the 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (14mm, 3.11 g, 4h). Wreathed young male head r. (Apollo), with short hair / ΦAΛ l. up, ANN r. down, the nymph Phalanna seated r. on a chair, holding mirror in her l., about to arrange her hair with her r. This combination of types unpublished, unknown and unique (?). Near Fine, green patina; struck with a worn obv. die, minor flatness on the reverse; an important coin.

This coin is the missing link between the earlier chalkoi of lots 575.1 and 575.2, and the later Zeus Peloris issues. Its worn obverse die was probably all that was available when the change to the Zeus Peloris types was decided and this hybrid was struck before the proper obverse dies became available. This die link also suggests that the nymph with the mirror was the first type of the series. There followed the nymph with the stork while the nymph head reverses come at the end of the group.