CNG 94, Lot: 394. Estimate $300. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CIMMERIAN BOSPOROS, Pantikapaion. Circa 400-375 BC. AR Diobol or Hemidrachm (11mm, 1.21 g). Facing lion’s head / A–Π–O–Λ in quarters of quadripartite incuse square. Frolova, frühe, Type XXXIV; MacDonald 21/1; Anokhin 1140; HGC 7, –. Good VF, toned.

From the Daniel Koppersmith Collection. Ex Pegasi 25 (8 November 2011), lot 64.

Stylistically, the lion’s head coinage bearing the “AΠOΛ” legend and those with the ethnic of Pantikapaion are identical and must come from the same mint. MacDonald (p. 16) notes that the “AΠOΛ” found on such coins “...may refer to Apollo or his temple, the chief religious institution of Panticapaeum, which perhaps provided the silver for the coinage.”