391, Lot: 123. Estimate $100. Sold for $90. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 462/1-460 BC. AR Obol (10mm, 0.98 g, 10h). Bull’s head facing; to left, half-length figure of hero to right, his left arm over the bull’s neck and his right hand below the bull’s muzzle / ΛA, head and neck of bridled horse right; all within incuse square. Liampi, Corpus I.6 (V4/R5); BCD Thessaly II 353.3; HGC 4, 480. VF, toned, granular surfaces.

From the BCD Collection, purchased from Leu Numismatik, March 1990.

Noting the apparent friendliness of the hero to the bull, BCD (Triton XV) has noted: “Perhaps, after the contests were over, the bull riders would reward their bulls with a little something, the same way today riders give a small treat to their horses after they have performed well in a competition.”