Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 155. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACO-MACEDONIAN TRIBES, The Edones. King Getas. Circa 470-465 BC. AR Oktadrachm (28.32 gm). Herdsman guiding two bulls walking right upon dotted ground line / GETA [B ASILEWS HDO]NAN around spoked wheel in incuse square. Tatscheva, "GETAS HDONEON BASILEUS," Essays to Edith Schönert-Geiss, pg. 626, 2 = AMNG III pg. 64, 3 (Ichnai) = Svoronos, Primitif pl. IV, 19 (same obverse die); cf. BMC Macedonia pg. 144, 1; cf. Traité pl. XLV, 5-8. Crude VF, short flan, some porosity. Extremely rare, apparently only the fourth known example. ($4000)

Margarita Tatscheva, in her comprehensive 1998 study of Getas’ coinage, lists thirteen known octadrachms of three different types which suggest a reign of substantial duration. Of these coins, three were from the "Dekadrachm Hoard," nine were in museums, and apparently only one was privately owned. The wheel, which appears on the reverse type on four of Getas’ previously known coins, is the normal reverse type for the Ichnai. Its presence here may signify that Getas brought the Ichnai under his authority. King Getas is known to history only from his coins.