Highly Interesting Graffiti

399, Lot: 136. Estimate $150. Sold for $120. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Pherai. Circa 460-440 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 6.05 g, 3h). Thessalos right, nude but for petasos and cloak, holding band around the head of bull right / ΦE, bridled horse cantering right; to left, lion’s head fountain right, from which water pours forth; all within incuse square. BCD Thessaly II 682 var. (ethnic); HGC 4, 545; CNG 84, lot 353 (same dies). VF, punch marks and graffiti on reverse.

From the BCD Collection. Ex Tietjen & Co. 77 (5 June 1997), lot 503.

The highly interesting graffiti (“ΛA/RI”) on the reverse reproduces the ethnic of Thessaly’s most renowned city, Larissa.