429, Lot: 86. Estimate $75. Sold for $160. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 462/1-460 BC. AR Obol (10.5mm, 0.86 g, 12h). Head and neck of bull left, facing viewer; to right, half-length figure of hero to left, his rightt arm over the bull’s neck and his left hand below the bull’s muzzle / ΛA, head and neck of bridled horse right; all within incuse square. Liampi, Corpus, Group I.1.A, 4 (V3/R3); BCD Thessaly II 353.2 (same dies); HGC 4, 479. VF, toned, some porosity.

From the BCD Collection.

A note from BCD from the Triton sale: On these taurokathapsia series one would expect the hero to hold a band around the forehead of the bull or to get ready to jump on its back. On this die it seems as if he is on friendly terms with the animal and is offering him a tasty morsel (in the case of a bull it would probably be just a tuft of grass).