Trikka. Lot of 6 coins.

Triton XV, Lot: 777. Estimate $200. Sold for $1900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Lot of 6 coins.

(777.1) THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (17mm, 2.28 g, 10h). Youthful hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., border of dots / TP-I-KK-AI-O-И from middle l. upwards, r. and down circular, forepart of bridled horse cantering r., all in very shallow incuse square. This die combination not found in references consulted (but see note below). VF, lightly toned with some blue hues; well struck but not perfectly centred.

Part of the “Forger’s purse” hoard (see previous note). This is the fourth and last coin of this very unusual find. With a weight of 2.28 and found in the “wrong company”, this coin becomes automatically a suspect, in spite of all its other characteristics being those of a genuine coin. Its reverse die is very close (same hand or a very accurate copy) to G. Hirsch 258 (25 September 2008) 2173; also to Münzen und Medaillen Deutschland 30 (28 May 2009) 958. The reasons behind producing fourré coins in antiquity were more obscure and complicated than what we would like to think today. One thing is certain: a good portion of these ancient fakes were struck with what we today call “official dies”.

(777.2) THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (16.5mm, 1.79 g, 1h). Youthful hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., border of dots / TP-I-KK-AI-[O]-И from middle l. upwards, r. and down circular, forepart of bridled horse cantering r., all in shallow incuse square. This die combination not found in references consulted (but see note below previous lot 774.2). Near VF, toned; the plating has peeled off exposing the bronze core towards the edge of the coin from 2 to 6 o’clock on the obverse and 5 to 10 o’clock on the reverse.

This coin is struck from the same pair of dies as the previous coin, 777.1, and justifies the classification of that coin as an ancient forgery.

(777.3) THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (15mm, 2.25 g, 11h). Youthful hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., border of dots / TP-[I]-KKA from above l. down and r., forepart of bridled horse cantering r., all in shallow incuse square. Fine, lightly toned; a strip and a pellet of silver were applied to the obverse at a later date, in an attempt to conceal the exposure of the bronze core.

The coin is said to be part of a hoard found in central Thessaly in early 1985; this would mean that the additional silver was applied in ancient times.

(777.4) THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (15mm, 2.01 g, 12h). Youthful hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., border of dots / T-PI-[K]KA-I-ON from above l., down and r. circular, forepart of bridled horse cantering r., all in shallow incuse square. Near VF, old collection toning, a little uneven; edge clipped between 4 and 5 o’clock on the obverse, revealing the bronze core.

Ex Hess 207 (1 December 1931) 389, described as subaerat.

Same rev. die (at later stage) as next coin, 774.5.

(777.5) THESSALY, Trikka. 2nd half of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (15mm, 1.91 g, 6h). Youthful hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak and petasos over his shoulders, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., border of dots / T-PI-KKA-I-ON from above l., down and r. circular, forepart of bridled horse cantering r., all in shallow incuse square. Good Fine, toned; some dark deposits that look as if they have been applied to hide the exposed bronze core.

Same rev. die as previous coin, 774.4.

(777.6) THESSALY, Trikka. Last quarter of the 5th century BC. AR fourrée Hemidrachm (17mm, 1.79 g, 6h). Bearded hero, Thessalos, naked but for cloak over his shoulders, his petasos fallen on the ground under his feet, holding a band with both hands below the horns of the forepart of a bull leaping r., forcing the animal to turn his head to face the viewer, as he also does; border of dots / TP-I-K-K-AIO from above l., to r. and down circular, forepart of horse cantering r., below, Jason’s sandal to r., all in shallow incuse square. See Nomos 4, 1352 for the same hand that engraved this obverse die. VF, attractively toned; bronze core showing from 7 to 9 o’clock on obverse.

This coin is part of the “Forger’s purse” hoard, said to have been found in east Thessaly, June 1983 [see BCD Lokris-Phokis, NAC 55 (8 October 2010) 230]. The Phokian fourée hemidrachms found with this coin were struck with the reverse die Williams R. 101, and dated (according to Williams) to 460 - 457 BC. This would place all Trikka hemidrachms of this obverse style before the middle of the century, a date far too early even to contemplate. On the other hand, downdating the Phokian hemidrachms by half a century would upset the entire chronology of the Williams die study. Any ideas for a scenario that would keep everybody happy?