Extremely Rare Lion Hekte

Sale: Triton X, Lot: 328. Estimate $1500.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $7500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LYDIA, Uncertain (Sardis?). Circa 650-550 BC. EL Hekte – 1/6 Stater (2.39 g). Lion lying left within rectangular frame / Double incuse punches, one with stellate pattern, the other with a bird left (eagle?). Weidauer 128 (same die and punches). Near EF. Well struck. Extremely rare.

Same stellate punch, and similar bird punch, as Triton VI, 400. These punches link these two coins to a series of tritai and hektai with a variety of obverse types: a forepart of a lion, lion’s head, two boars’ heads confronted, or a single boar’s head (see Spier, pp. 331-3). Some of these issues are inscribed with a partial legend in letters of recognizably Lydian form. Spier noted the strong similarity of the fabric and style of this boar & lion series, as well as the form of their inscriptions, to the royal lion series issued at Sardes (Weidauer groups XV, XVII, and XVIII). Other similarities he noted between the two series include the use of lion iconography and the occurrence of both series in a number of the same finds. Accordingly, Spier identified the boar & lion series as Lydian, but was hesitant to place them at Sardes due to a lack of any die links with the royal series.