Triton XV, Lot: 774. Estimate $150. Sold for $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR Hemiobol (9mm, 0.36 g, 3h). Youthful male head r., border of dots / T-PI above, retrograde, forepart of horse r., all in shallow incuse square. Weber 2937 var. [legend differs, not retrograde]; see also Nomos 4, 1356, cited as “seemingly unpublished” but actually from the same pair of dies as the Weber coin. Near VF, nicely toned; an attractive and rare fraction.

Acquired from a British dealer in May 1974, immediately after the Kunstfreund auction, for CHF 1250.

Those were the days when such fractions were real rarities; the picture has changed in the last 20 years or so and this writer often thinks that concentrating on Greek fractions could become one of the most rewarding specializations in today’s collecting.