The Horse/Nymph Series

CNG 90, Lot: 31. Estimate $150. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 460-400 BC. AR Trihemiobol (14mm, 1.35 g, 11h). Horseman, petasos tied at neck, holding spear, riding right; below, head of lion right / The nymph Larissa seated right within incuse square. BCD Thessaly II 154 (same rev. die). Good VF, toned, light porosity, a few minor die breaks. Exceptional for issue.

From the BCD Collection.

This series of fractional silver is one of the most diverse, interesting, and least understood of all the series at Larissa. The coins feature a horse (sometimes with a rider) on the obverse, and the nymph Larissa in various poses on the reverse. Although dated concurrently with the later taurokathapsia series of drachms and hemidrachms (see lots 40-62, below), this series of fractions probably began slightly earlier. It is possible that this series continued to be produced into the first quarter of the 4th century, as the next series of fractions, with Aesklepios on the reverse, does not begin until the 370s BC.