Sale: CNG 67, Lot: 733. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 22 September 2004.  Sold For $575. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARIA. Achaemenid Period. Circa 350-341 BC. AR Tetradrachm (15.36 gm). Persian king or hero in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow / Satrap on horseback right, thrusting with spear. Cf. SNG Kayhan 1004; Traité pl. XCI, 16; cf. SNG Copenhagen 290 (Persian Empire); Pixodarus pg. 210; Dewing 2715. VF, slightly double struck, choice flan. ($750)

From the Garth R. Drewry Collection. Ex Spink Numismatic Circular (February 2002), no. GK0488.

The archer-horseman tetradrachms are one of the most enigmatic Persian coinages struck in Asia Minor prior to the invasion of Alexander the Great. Though various symbols and letters occur in the fields, no inscription exists to help us identify the issuer, mint, or purpose of issue. Fortunately, hoard evidence (most recently the Pixodarus Hoard) has allowed the series to be dated to the decade beginning circa 350 BC. The number that have appeared have also revealed two different planchet types used, one with the typical rounded edge and another with more squared edges with a pair of “sprues” at opposite ends. This would most likely indicate that more that one mint was used to produce this series.