CNG 96, Lot: 486. Estimate $500. Sold for $1200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of LYDIA. temp. Ardys – Alyattes. Circa 630s-564/53 BC. EL Myshemihekte – Twenty-fourth Stater (5mm, 0.59 g). Head of boar right; radiating lines around / Incuse square. Spier p. 332, 6 = Rosen 282; cf. Weidauer 55 = Boston MFA 1760 (trite); cf. SNG Kayhan 1011 (hemihekte); Gemini VI, lot 203. VF. Extremely rare.

Recent research (mostly forthcoming in publication, but cf. White Gold p. 20) has shown that the earliest Lydian electrum had begun before circa 630 BC, predating our traditional attribution to Alyattes. This redating affects Weidauer Groups XV, XVII, and XVIII, as well as the lion paw fractions and boar head coins that Spier linked to the early Lydian coinage.