Very Rare Depiction of the Temple of ’Ešmun

Triton XVIII, Lot: 729. Estimate $1000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Sidon. Uncertain king. Circa 450-435 BC. AR Sixteenth Shekel (8mm, 0.71 g, 4h). Galley with triangular sail left / Three tiered podium of the Temple of ’Ešmun in dotted circle within incuse square. E&E-S Group I.3, 3 (D1/R1 – this coin); Betlyon 2; Rouvier – HGC 10, 216; CNG 37, lot 679. EF, deeply toned. Very rare, only 17 examples noted by the Elayis, but probably fewer are known (see below).

From the collection of a Southern Pathologist. Ex Classical Numismatic Review XIX.3 (3rd quarter, 1994), no. 130.

In their die study of the coins of Sidon, the Elayis note 8 individual pieces located in public collections and sales records. The other coins they note are nine pieces in the 1902 Qasr Naba hoard (IGCH 1493; J. Elayi & A.G. Elayi, Tresors de monnaies pheniciennes et circulation monetaire [Paris: Gabalda, 1993], no. XXIII) However, the coins in that hoard were never recorded in detail; there are no photographs or even weights provided in any publication of the find. Thus, some, if not all, of the eight individual coins the Elayis list may be from this find. In fact, the patina on the present piece is consistent with a very old pedigree, although the only known previous sales record is from 1994.