Sale: Nomos 7, Lot: 86. Estimate CHF7500.  Closing Date: Tuesday, 14 May 2013.  Sold For CHF6000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BOEOTIA, Thebes. Circa 425-395 BC. Stater (Silver, 11.93 g). Boeotian shield. Rev. Θ - Ε Head of Dionysos to right, bearded and wearing an ivy wreath; all within incuse square. BCD Boiotia 438(this coin). BMC 58. Winterthur 1906. Attractively toned and with a serene and noble head of Dionysos. Good very fine.

From the Spina Collection, and from the BCD Collection, Triton IX, 10 January 2006, 438, ex Christie’s, London, 8 October 1991, 85.

The elegance of this portrait shows no sign of the wilder, drunken nature of Dionysos and portrays him as a god on a par with Zeus and Poseidon.