Triton XVIII, Lot: 590. Estimate $300. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LESBOS, Unattributed Koinon mint. Circa 478-460 BC. BI Twenty-fourth Stater (8mm, 0.57 g). Confronted boars’ heads; BP above / Quadripartite incuse square. Lazzarini, Contribution, Series IV var. (unlisted with these letters); cf. HGC 6, 1071. Near EF, lightly toned, very minor porosity. Exceptionally high silver for billon issue, and apparently unpublished with these letters.

The letters on these coins usually correspond to the cities of Antissa or Methymna, or the Lesbian koinon. However, a sixth stater, SNG von Aulock 7745, with the letters KIΘI was originally interpreted by Imhoof-Blumer as the city Kithnos, but no such city is known (cf. Lazzarini p. 96). Thus, Lazzarini suggests that the letters are the name of some important figure who is tied to that particular issue. This would also explain the presence of the letters on the present coin, which do not correspond to any city on the island.