52, Lot: 15. Estimate $400. Sold for $350. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Selinos. Circa 540-510 BC. AR Didrachm (8.82 gm). Selinon leaf with four pellets around; stem of leaf resembling a panther's scalp / Incuse square divided into eight sections. C. Arnold-Biucchi , "The Beginnings of Coinage in the West: Archaic Selinus," in Studies U. Westermark, 5; SNG ANS 677 var. Toned, good VF. ($400)

From the John M. McCarthy Collection

Whether intentional or merely coincidental is uncertain, but the stalk of the Selinon leaf with the pellets on either side of it is remarkably reminiscent of a panther's scalp as seen on other, roughly contemporary, South Italian coinage.