Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 216. Estimate $4000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $3700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ELIS, Olympia. Circa 415-385 BC. AR Stater (12.06 gm). Higher relief head of Hera right with hair hanging in ringlets, wearing stephane with beaded lower border inscribed H-P-A which is bordered by palmettes and is interspersed with double lilies / F-A across field, fiery thunderbolt interwoven within wreath of wild olive. Seltman 275 (EK/hn); BMC Peloponnesus pg. 65, 63 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 381 (same dies). Attractively toned, good VF with a well centered head of Hera, wearing a highly detailed stephane. ($4000)

Hera’s portrait on coins from the temple mint dedicated to her at Olympia are usually adorned with a stephane bearing inscriptions, decorative devices such as lilies and palmettes, or both. In this case, the stephane bears the goddess' name inscribed as HPA interspersed with palmettes and double lilies. On certain later issues, her stephane is inscribed with the ethnic of the Eleans. This stater belongs to the earliest group from the mint of the Olympian Hera, which, unlike the mint of the Olympian Zeus, had a relatively short period of activity, issuing tetradrachms only for about one century.