CNG 105, Lot: 278. Estimate $750. Sold for $750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 412-378 BC. EL Hekte – Sixth Stater (10mm, 2.54 g, 9h). Head of Apollo facing slightly right, wearing laurel wreath / Head of Amazon right, wearing ornate helmet, in linear square within incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 64; HGC 6, 990. Good VF, lightly toned. Rare.

Parallels have been drawn between the obverse of this type and the facing head Apollo on the famous 'Parthenon Group' tetradrachms of Amphipolis. As the present coinage was struck decades prior to that of Amphipolis, one wonders whether this issue of Mytilene influenced the masterful artists of the Macedonian city.