Three Issues from the Same Obverse Die

362, Lot: 182. Estimate $500. Sold for $800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LYCIA, Xanthos (as Arñna). Circa 450-430/20 BC. AR Stater (20mm, 8.09 g, 10h). Head right, wearing satrapal headdress / Laureate head of Apollo right; diskeles to left, arñ (in Lycian) to right; all in dotted circular border within incuse circle. Cf. Falghera 143 = SNG von Aulock 4197; CNG E-359, lot 94 (same dies); CNG E-354, lot 178 (same dies); otherwise unpublished. VF, toned, struck with worn obverse die. Rare.

Athough Falghera lists his no. 143 as an issue of the dynast Vekhssere I, and hoards place these issues contemporary with his rule, his name does not appear on this coinage with Apollo reverse, only the ethnic of the mint of Xanthos. Thus, it seems more appropriate to place this issue under the mint, though dated contemporaneously with the reign of Wekhssere I. At the same time, one similar series of Wekhssere, MAL I Type IX, with the types Athena/Apollo, has some issues with the name of the dynast die-linked to others without. So, it is possible that a similar situation could exist regarding the present coin, and future discoveries may present die links to coins that have the dynast’s name. Finally, one must also consider the ever-present diskeles on this issue. Vismara, in MAL I, argues that the diskeles is a signifier of the dynast, rather than some mundane subsidiary symbol. As this symbol is found on various issues across different mints striking for Wekhssere, this seems plausible, but this does not consider the question, then, of why some issues with the diskeles also bear the dynast’s name, while others do not. As the diskeles also occurs on coins in the name of other dynasts, it seems that the symbol has a more complex meaning, one that is not yet made clear by evidence.