The Third Known?

430, Lot: 86. Estimate $100. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Larissa. Circa 356-320 BC. AR Trihemiobol (10mm, 1.03 g, 6h). Head of the nymph Larissa right / [ΛA], half-length bust of Asklepios right, holding herbs(?). BCD Thessaly II 276 (same dies [hammer $4500]); BCD Thessaly I 1138 (same dies [hammer 4500 CHF]); HGC 4, 473 (illustrating BCD II 276). Fine, toned, porous, die break on obverse. Extremely rare, only the two prior BCD pieces published.

From the BCD Collection.

From the BCD II sale: “The writer admits that seeing a bunch of herbs held by Asklepios is more a product of his imagination than the outcome of careful observation. However, Asklepios is not holding a sickle as ASW thought in Nomos 4. The die flaw and the A on the coin he examined, combined to give him that impression. Another candidate to be held by the god of medicine would be his attribute, a staff with a snake entwined around it. But in this case, the photograph of the Nomos coin should show the lower part of the staff, as there is room for it on the flan. We may have to wait for another coin to appear that would have a wider flan and no die flaws, before deciding on the issue.”