CNG 96, Lot: 443. Estimate $750. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 625/0-522 BC. EL Hekte – Sixth Stater (10mm, 2.59 g). Helmeted head left; to right, seal upward / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 6; CNG 90, lot 538; Triton XIV, lot 283 = CNG 57, lot 491; CNG E-237, lot 28; G. Hirsch 275, lot 3820; Tkalec (29 February 2000), lot 126; Münzen und Medaillen AG FPL 201, no. 240. VF, a little die rust. Extremely rare issue, the seventh known.

There are four emissions in Bodenstedt with this type, emissions 6, 15, 30, and 50. The latter three share common characteristics: there is a crest on the helmet, the bowl is adorned with some ornament, the eye is better formed (rather than a dot), and the seal is below the helmet. None of these characteristics are found on the first emission of this type, which features a helmet without crest, no ornamentation on the bowl, an eye formed of a large dot, and the seal placed to the right of the helmet. Additionally, the incuse on the reverse is distinctly different from the later emissions.