Sale: CNG 69, Lot: 624. Estimate $300.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 8 June 2005.  Sold For $205. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SAMARIA. Circa 375-333 BCE. AR Hemiobol (0.29 gm, 12h). Crude male head left, possibly helmeted / "OE" and "D", horned goat left, reaching to the top of a palm tree; olive sprig to left; all in incuse square. Meshorer & Qedar 111. Good VF, toned. ($300)

The crudeness of the obverse bust make it impossible to determine if it is intended to be helmeted. The reverse is derived from Mesopotamian images of animals flanking the Tree of Life. It is also remarkably similar to the famous Sumerian sculpture "Ram in Thicket" at the University of Pennsylvania Museum. However, the "OE" and olive sprig seem to be adapted from Athenian coin types. The obverse and reverse are inverted from their order in M&Q.