148, Lot: 145. Estimate $100. Sold for $234. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CRETE, Praisos. Circa 4th-3rd century BC. Æ 13mm (2.13 g, 1h). Facing head of Medusa, with small wings at sides of head, serpents around neck / Bee with open wings; rose to left. Apparently unpublished. Good VF, smooth green patina.

From the David Herman Collection.

The bee with flower symbol would seem to confirm the attribution of this unrecorded bronze to Praisos. These same types appear on the reverse of silver hemidrachms (cf. Svoronos 43 and SNG Copenhagen 542). A Medusa head is less emblematic of Crete; the only use of the type found in Svoronos is on two small bronzes (pl. XXXI, 19-20) with caduceus reverse. These Medusa / Caduceus coins are found on Crete, but cannot be further attributed. It should be noted that the style of this head is much superior to the type illustrated in Svoronos, and in fact surpasses most of the bronze coins of Crete.