Sale: CNG 66, Lot: 382. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 19 May 2004.  Sold For $10500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ATTICA, Athens. Circa 545-510 BC. AR Didrachm (8.38 gm). "Wappenmünzen." Four-spoked wheel / Incuse square, divided diagonally. Svoronos, Athenes pl. 1, 50; Dewing -; SNG Copenhagen 3. Attractively toned, good VF, choice flan. Very rare. ($10,000)

"Wappenmünzen" ("Blazon money") is a German term used to describe the earliest coinage of Athens. Although modern scholars have convincingly demonstrated that Seltman's hypothesis that Wappenmünzen types represent the coats-of-arms of Athens' leading families is incorrect, numismatic cataloguers have been hard-pressed to find a more suitable designation to describe the series.