Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 229. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $3000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THRACO-MACEDONIAN TRIBES, Uncertain tribe. Circa 510-480 BC. AR Didrachm (7.02 gm). Conjoined foreparts of Pegasos and a winged lion, tête-beche / Quadripartite incuse square, the quarters coffered. Tzamalis 65; AMNG III -; Asyut 57; HPM pl. XVII, 28; Traité pl. XXVIII, 10; SNG ANS 989; Imhoof-Blumer, MG pg. 466, 43. VF, toned, minor roughness, scuff on reverse. Extremely rare. ($2000)

Ex Leu 76 (27 October 1999), lot 87.

The iconography of conjoined Pegasos and winged lion foreparts is problematic for identifying the mint of origin of these coins. While the Pegasos does appear on a number of Macedonian and tribal coins contemporary with this issue, the winged lion does not. Furthermore, the winged lion is not prominent iconographically at any city or tribe in this region, though it may have been imported and employed during the Persian invasion. Nevertheless, the origin of these coins is still speculative. Imhoof-Blumer originally proposed an uncertain location in Ionia. E. Babelon (in Traité) similarly placed the issue at an uncertain mint in Asia Minor, but also speculated that the obverse design may suggest some alliance coinage, perhaps between Lampsakos and another city. Svoronos agreed with Babelon’s theory of an alliance coinage, but believed the fabric was clearly indicative of a Thraco-Macedonian origin. He hypothesized that the coin types may have been influenced by Histiaios or Aristagoras, tyrants at Myrkinos, who hailed from Miletos. The Asyut hoard unfortunately fails to provide a definitive answer, but does allow a more certain dating of the issue.