New Issue for Akanthos

439, Lot: 19. Estimate $100. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 470-430 BC. AR Tetrobol (15.5mm, 2.42 g). Forepart of bull left, head right, with extended tongue / Quadripartite incuse square. Apparently unpublished. Near VF, deeply toned, granular surfaces. Extremely rare.

From the Belgica Collection.

The style of this coin appears to be a hybrid between the previously known early Attic tetrobols with the Akanthos flower above the bull, and the later Thraco-Macedonian tetrobols with various symbols or letters appearing above the bull. Here, the bull’s head is perfectly in profile and the incuse has plain quarters, both like the Attic issues, but the overall style and weight are more aligned to the Thraco-Macedonian series. Although it seems that the weight of this coin is Thraco-Macedonian, it is still close enough to the theoretical 2.60 grams of the Attic standard that it may simply be on the light end of the spectrum.