CNG 94, Lot: 431. Estimate $300. Sold for $1300. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 480-450 BC. AR Tetrobol (9mm, 1.43 g). Head of tunny right / Quadripartite incuse square divided diagonally. Von Fritze II –; SNG France –; SNG von Aulock –; SNG Ashmolean 525; Rosen 517 var. (form of incuse; same obv. die); Rosen Sale 151 var. (incuse with K and pellet, same obv. die). Near EF, dark find patina, tiny die break above eye. Extremely rare.

This coin is obverse die linked to the previous lot as well as the Rosen Sale 151 coin, and all three appear to form a transitional issue bridging the earlier archaic coinage with the early classical silver issues of Kyzikos. There reverses show that the mint was experimenting with new reverse types. While the previous coin has the usual, perpendicularly divided, quadripartite incuse, the present coin has a diagonally divided square. Finally, on the third piece (Rosen Sale 151), the incuse is divided such that a large K is formed by the lines, supplemented by two pellets and two small lines in one segment. In the subsequent double-sided silver coinage, the ethnic K often appears on the reverse with a lion’s head, all in a shallow incuse square. In addition to this experimentation on the reverse, the obverse die used on these coins displays a progression in style from the archaic tunny heads to a more lifelike type that typified the classical period.