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Details
LOT 0607
Greek Inscribed Lead Slingshot
4TH CENTURY B.C.
1 1/4 in. (35.8 grams, 30 mm).
Biconical in profile with casting seam and reserved legend 'ΦΙΛ[.]VOC (PHILIPPOS)'. [No Reserve]
Provenance
Acquired on the German art market before 2000.
Private collection, Munich, Germany.
Literature
Cf. Manov, M., Torbov, N., 'Inscribed Lead Sling Bullets with the name of Alexander the Great and with other names and symbols found in Thrace' in Archaeologia Bulgarica, XX, 2, pp.29-43, figs.1ff, for similar.
Footnotes
The leaden bullets, thrown with slings, were called in Greek molivdainai (μολύβδαιναι), and in Latin glandes; the former indicating the material ‘lead’, the latter the shape ‘acorns’. These bullets were cast in a mould and bore letters or devices, or both, on two sides or only on one. In form, they were more like an almond than an acorn, but many are pointed at both ends.
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