Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 46. Estimate $2000.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $2700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 440-430 BC. AR Half Nomos (3.97 gm, 5h). Ear of barley with six grains / Apollo standing facing, head right, holding bow; all within laurel wreath. Noe 320a = Lacroix, Monnaies et colonisations dans l'occident grec, pl. 12, 5 = Basel 133 (this coin); SNG ANS 279 (same dies); HN Italy 1497. Good VF, toned, light scratches on obverse. Very rare. ($1000)

From the H.B. Collection. Ex Sammlung Ludwig (Numismatica Ars Classica 13, 8 October 1998), lot 133; Kunstfreund [Gillet] (Leu & Münzen und Medaillen, 28-29 May 1974), lot 66; Ars Classica XIV (2 July 1929), lot 32; Imhoof-Blumer Collection.

The only half nomos in the Metapontine series. Introduced as an experiment with the first double relief nomoi from the city, it was obviously a failure, never to be repeated. One of thirteen specimens cited by Noe, with an impressive pedigree linking it to the collections of at least three important numismatists. Please note that if you are referring to the 1984 reprint of Noe’s work, the entries for 320-322 have been badly garbled, leading to some confusion regarding the types and numbers of known specimens.