Triton XIX, Lot: 111. Estimate $3000. Sold for $2250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 370-360 BC. AR Hemidrachm (15mm, 3.07 g, 6h). Head of the nymph Larissa right, hair bound with ribbon, wearing single-pendant earring / Horse standing left, trailing rein, preparing to lie down; ΛAPI above, small plant below, ΠΛE[I] in exergue. BCD Thessaly I 1137 (this coin); Herrmann Group IVb, p. 36, pl. IV, 9 = J. Hirsch XVI, 399 (same obv. die); HGC 4, 465 (this coin referenced and illustrated); SNG Copenhagen –; SNG München –; BMC –; Traité –. Near EF, lightly toned, struck on a compact flan, as ususal, a few minor marks. Fine style. Very rare, and among the finest.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 78 (26 May 2014), lot 258; BCD Collection (Nomos 4, 10 May 2011), lot 1137; Numismatica Ars Classica I (29 March 1989), lot 154.

From the BCD sale (Triton XV): “The ΠΛΕΙ drachms and their fractions constitute an intriguing departure from the mainstream material that comes after the Early facing heads. Their date must precede most, if not all, Middle and Late facing types, also because all fractions have their obverse in profile. The size of the letters precludes the possibility that they are an artist’s signature and if there was a mint in Thessaly starting with these letters, it could be claimed they are a joint issue. Perhaps they are a special group minted for a particular purpose and subsidized by a rich sponsor whose name starts with these letters. Thomas R. Martin, in his article “The Chronology of the Fourth-Century B.C. Facing-Head Coinage of Larissa” in Museum Notes 28 (1993), p. 31-32, esp. notes 108 and 109, conjures up a Tyrant (archon) whose name did not come down to us and who seized power in Larissa for a short time, around 375 BC. It would be nice if an inscription was found that confirms this theory but for the time being, as Martin himself admits, it can only be speculation.”