CNG 102, Lot: 373. Estimate $750. Sold for $650. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MYSIA, Kyzikos. 5th-4th centuries BC. EL Hekte – Sixth Stater (10mm, 2.66 g). Head of the hunter Aktaion left, with stag’s horn above forehead; below, tunny left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze I 141; Greenwell 24 (unlisted denomination); SNG France 290; cf. Boston MFA 1510 = Warren 1442 (stater). VF, toned. Very rare, only one in CoinArchives.

Aktaion was a famous hunter who learned his skills from the centaur Chiron. One day he accidentally came upon Artemis bathing: she was so angered by him seeing her naked that she transformed him into a stag and he was set upon and torn to pieces by his own hunting dogs. Here we see the start of the transformation process, with the horn just coming out of his head. This portrait was also used on roughly contemporary gold staters at the mint of Lampsakos (cf. SNG France 1145).