Sale: Triton X, Lot: 388. Estimate $3000.  Closing Date: Monday, 8 January 2007.  Sold For $2800. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SYRIA, Cyrrhestica. Bambyce. Abdahad. Circa 342-331 BC. AR Didrachm (6.72 g, 12h). "Atarateh" in Aramaic, draped bust of Atargatis left, wearing turreted crown; crescent and circle behind / “Abdahad” in Aramaic, Great King and driver, who hold reins, in quadriga of mules left. Mildenberg, Note 12 (this coin); Seyrig, Hieropolis pl. 1, 2; Price, More 14-15; BMC -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG München -. EF, toned, test cut on reverse. Very rare.

Ex Garth R. Drewry Collection (Triton VIII, 11 January 2005), lot 519; Sotheby's Zurich (27 October 1993), lot 815; Numismatic Fine Arts XXX (8 December 1992), lot 113.

Bambyce was famous for its cult of Atargatis, and this issue of the dynast/priest Abdahad displays the bust of the goddess on its obverse. Although the weight of this particular coin is well below the Attic didrachm standard of 8 grams, the known coins of this type do display a wide variance of weights. The reason for this variance is as yet unknown.