Sale: Nomos 6, Lot: 88. Estimate CHF2750.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 May 2012.  Sold For CHF2200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

TROAS, Dardanos. 5th century BC. Trihemiobol (Silver, 1.03 g), ca. 480 BC. Rooster standing right; to left, sun. Rev. Rough incuse square. Unpublished save for its auction appearances and unique. Nicely toned. Good very fine.

From the collections of R. Maly, LHS 100, 23 April 2007, 295, T. Kuyas, Münzen und Medaillen 41, 18 June 1970, 158, V. M. Brand, Hess-Leu 31, 6 December 1966, 414 and P. Lambros, Hirsch XXIX, 9 November 1910, 677.

A fascinating coin: Dardanos used the cock as its symbol on its early coinage, perhaps because of that animal’s relation to the sunrise (as clearly noted on this coin) or because of a lost myth connecting it with the Dardanians, an ancient people who supposedly lived in this area and were closely connected to the Trojans (Tros was the grandson of their eponymous founder, Dardanos). The pedigree of this coin is a particularly notable one.