IONIA, Ephesos. Circa 550-500 BC. AR Hekte – Sixth Stater (10mm, 1.70 g). Karwiese Series IIIA, 21; SNG Kayhan 1227–30; SNG von Aulock -; Traité II 1870. EF, toned. A very sharply struck piece, very well preserved and without a trace of the usual crystalization. Rare.
Somewhat intriguingly, the way this coin was struck gives the impression that the bee’s body is adorned with two back-to-back Εs – in fact, they are the usual lines found on the thorax, but displaced.