CNG 91, Lot: 345. Estimate $300. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ASIA MINOR, Uncertain mint. 5th century BC. AR Obol (7mm, 0.67 g). Elements of chimaira: foreparts of lion, stag, and dragon(?), joined together at center and radiating outward / Facing gorgoneion within incuse square. CNG 85, lot 477, otherwise unpublished. VF, lightly toned, some porosity. Extremely rare, perhaps the second known.

This coin appears to be the obol denomination for a series featuring the chimaira on the obverse and a gorgoneion in incuse on the reverse, for which drachms (M. Six, “Monnaies grecques, inédites et incertaines” in NC 1890, p. 235, 15) and hemidrachms (C. Greenwell, “On some rare Greek coins” in NC 1897, p. 281, 2 = Boston MFA 2325; M. Six, op. cit., p. 235, 16-16bis) are known.