Pharkadon. Lot of 2 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 622. Estimate $100. Sold for $200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lot of 2 coins.

(622.1) THESSALY, Pharkadon. 1st quarter of the 4th century BC. Æ Trichalkon (19.5mm, 6.92 g, 7h). Laureate and bearded head r. (Poseidon?), behind, A / ΦA above, P below l., bridled horse with trailing rein crouching r., preparing to roll. Unpublished, unknown and unique (?) except for the more worn similar coin in this lot. Fine, dark green patina with a few traces of the bronze surface below and a couple of small dark red areas; a small die flaw on the vertical stroke of the letter Φ. Struck from the same pair of dies as the next coin, lot 622.2.

The reading ΦA-P is confirmed from the reverse die of the second, more worn coin, of this lot. This and the Thessalian find spots of both coins, suggest Pharkadon as the most likely candidate. Another reason to attribute these to Pharkadon is the horse on the reverse, obviously contemporary to the earliest Larissa drachms with this reverse (see above, lot 304) and carried over to the well known Pharkadon dichalkon with the crescent, or crescent and star reverses (see lots 613 above, and 623.1 to 624.3 below). The obverse, signed A by the die cutter, could be Zeus, Poseidon, or a local hero. Poseidon is the more likely candidate if we take into account his trident that features on the taurokathapsia issues of the city.

(622.2) THESSALY, Pharkadon. 1st quarter of the 4th century BC. Æ Trichalkon (18.5mm, 6.46 g, 7h). Laureate and bearded head r. (Poseidon?), behind, A (off flan here) / [ΦA] above, P below l., bridled horse with trailing rein crouching r., preparing to roll. Unpublished, unknown and unique (?) except for the better quality similar coin in this lot. Near Fine, green patina; both sides off centre and struck on a tight flan. Struck from the same pair of dies as the previous coin, lot 622.1.