Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 113. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $2200. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

MACEDON, Argilos. Circa 375-365 BC. Æ 12mm (1.17 gm, 12h). Laureate head of Apollo right / AP-KI (K retrograde), bow and arrow. Liampi 9 (O2/R2 ­ this coin); otherwise unpublished. EF, brown patina. One of only two bronze coins of Argilos known. ($300)

Argilos was a small town that lay on the eastern edge of the Chalkidike. The numismatic record of Argilos, as detailed by Dr. K. Liampi ("Argilos - History and Coinage," NumKron 13 [1994], pp. 7-36) contributes a great deal to the scant historical record remaining to us today. The majority of their known, albeit very rare, coinage is a series of silver denominations which they began to strike in the late 6th century BC. Typically featuring Pegasos or its forepart on the obverse, the earliest coinage employed the eponymous blank quadripartite square on the reverse, while later issues included the city's ethnic inside the quarters of these squares. The destructive upheavals in the region throughout the early fifth century lead to an end of Argilos' silver issues, and was followed by a period of approximately one hundred years in which no coinage is attributed to her. In the fourth century BC, the area saw a politico-economic upswing as a result of end of the Peloponnesian War, resulting in a flowering of coinage by many new cities, primarily in copper denominations. It was during this time that Argilos began its second series of coinage, only known by two bronze coins, including the present specimen. Liampi is uncertain of the purpose for the appearance of Apollo on these, but does note that the deity appears on issues throughout the region at that time, including the Chalkidian League, Amphipolis, and Phagres.