Triton XV, Lot: 789. Estimate $125. Sold for $300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Trikka. Late 4th to early 3rd centuries BC. Æ Dichalkon (19mm, 5.03 g, 4h). Head of nymph Trikke r. wearing pendant earring and pearl necklace / TPIK l. up, KAIEN (sic) r. down, bearded and draped Asklepios, seated r. on stool, his staff over his l. shoulder, holding dove by its wings in his r. hand and feeding with it a snake coiled l. facing him. This denomination not found in the literature consulted. VF, green patina with traces of bronze showing on the high relief points; extremely rare fractional issue.

Third century inflation made sure that fractional bronze denominations, issued more out of civic pride than to satisfy a demand, died out soon after their inception; hence their rarity today.