353, Lot: 147. Estimate $100. Sold for $150. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Ephesos. Circa 1st century AD. Æ Tessera (15mm, 2.16 g, 12h). Stag kneeling left, head right / Bee. SNG Copenhagen 355; BMC 186; SNG von Aulock 1875. VF, dark green and brown patina, light earthen highlights/deposits.

A series of tesserae, or tokens, was produced at the cult center of Ephesos during the Hellenistic period and later. The legends generally cannot be translated and are probably, for the most part, meaningless mystical formulae.