Extremely Rare Hypata Bronze

357, Lot: 59. Estimate $75. Sold for $1600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Hypata. Early-mid 4th century BC. Æ Chalkous (14mm, 1.79 g, 11h). Laureate head of Zeus right; thunderbolt to left / ΥΠΑΤ ΙΩΝ around from lower left, Athena Nikephoros standing left, holding spear; round shield to lower right. Rogers 268; BCD Thessaly I –; BCD Thessaly II – (though compare to lot 94 for a dichalkon); cf. HGC 4, 57 (same); BMC p. 203, 1, pl. III, 11a; Traité IV 454. Near Fine, rough brown patina. Extremely rare.

From the BCD Collection.

As BCD noted in Triton XV for lot 94, Rogers did not have any coins of Hypata in his collection and called them extremely rare, which BCD added was an understatement. Hypata bronzes are by far the rarest of all Thessalian coins; the only other example offered at auction was the aforementioned dichalkon, which brought a hammer of $25,000 on an estimate of $750. This presents a unique opportunity to acquire an extremely rare denomination from a virtually unobtainable mint in bronze.