Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 420. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $775. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Pedasa. Circa 4th Century BC. AE 12mm (1.56 gm, 12h). Head of Athena right wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with palmette / PHDA-SEWN, owl standing right, head facing. Von Aulock, "Eine neue kleinasiatische Münzstätte: Pedasa (Pidasa) bei Milet," JNG 25 (1975), pp. 123-8, otherwise unpublished. VF, dark green patina. Extremely rare, apparently the second known coin of this city in any metal. ($500)

The city of Pedasa near Miletos was not known to have issued coins until von Aulock published a single small bronze coin in 1975. Our piece, of the same legend and designs, appears now to be the second known coin of this city. Von Aulock proposed a date during the autonomous interval between 196 BC, when Pedasa was declared a free city, and 175 BC, when Pedasa joined in union with Miletos. However, the fabric, style, and letter forms all point to a more likely date in the early 4th century BC.