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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 
322, Lot: 173. Estimate $200.
Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of ILLYRIA. Ballaios. Circa 190-175 BC. AR Hemidrachm(?) (12mm, 1.05 g). Macedonian shield / Star. D. Ujes, "Le monete del 'RE' Ballaios e della zecca Rizonia al Museo Nazionale di Belgrado," Numizmaticar 16 (1993), pl. III, 30. VF, attractive find patina.


From an old find left at the Ashmolean Museum between 2002 and 2013 [see CNG Electronic Auction 317 (18 December 2013), lot 35 for another specimen from the same find].

Save for his coinage, there is little known about Ballaios. Based on the numismatic evidence, he was a monarch who reigned in the vicinity of Pharos and, later, Rizon, from circa 190-175/168 BC. Although a few very rare silver fractions have been attributed to Ballaios (cf. D. Ujes, "Le monete del 'RE' Ballaios e della zecca Rizonia al Museo Nazionale di Belgrado," Numizmaticar 16 (1993), pl. III, 30), his coinage mainly consists of small bronze coins. The bronze have his portrait on the obverse and Artemis Phosphoros on the reverse accompanied by Ballaios' name, either with or without the royal title. The silver fractions, though, are anepigraphic, with a crude Macedonian shield on the obverse and a star on the reverse. The present coin is known from only a handful of specimens, all with a crude Macedonian shield on the obverse and Pegasos flying left or right on the reverse (cf. Visonà, Greek-Illyrian and J. von Schlosser, Beschreibung der altgriechischen Münzen I: Thessalien, Illyrien, Dalmatien und die Inseln des adriatischen Meeres, Epeiros, p. 70, no. 1). All of these drachms have B A on the reverse, though often the A is misread as an Λ due to wear or some other defect. There are a couple of extremely rare examples that have not only the B and A, but also an Λ around the pegasos. The style and fabric of these drachms clearly place them in the Illyrian region, circa 250-150 BC. Additionally, the style of the shield is strikingly similar to the shield on the silver fractions of Ballaios. No other known king or mint in the region at that time would likely use these letters B A Λ, or a permutation thereof, on their coins. During the Third Macedonian War, the Illyrian king Genthius was allied with Macedon, and Perseus struck silver issues at Pella for him (cf. Crawford, CMRR, p. 221). It is therefore possible that these drachms were likewise minted by Perseus for Ballaios, whose reign may have extended into the early years of the war.