LOT 3021
Thessaly, Pharsalos AR Drachm. Late 5th-mid 4th century BC. Signed by the engraver ΤΗΛΕΦΑΝΤΟΣ (Telephantos) and ΙΠ- (Ip-).
Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Attic helmet with raised cheek pieces; behind neck, ΤΗ above ΙΠ (engravers' initials) in small lettering / Φ-Α-Ρ-Σ clockwise around Thessalian cavalryman riding horse prancing to right, wearing petasos, chlamys and chiton, and holding lagobolon over his right shoulder; in exergue, Τ (engraver's initial). Lavva 86 (O43/R51); BCD Thessaly I 1284 var. (TH in exergue); BCD Thessaly II 639 var. (no ΙΠ); HGC 4, 624. Good Extremely Fine. Tiny cut on reverse. Attractive toning with golden iridescence around the devices. Sharply struck and surprisingly detailed.(5.95gr, 18mm, 9h.).
ProvenanceFrom a Swiss collection, acquired prior to 2005.
Ex Nomos AG, Auction 21, 21 November 2020, lot 145 (company's ticket included).
If the harmony and the aristocratic inner peace of the portraits are the first thing that catches our attention, it is the extremely detailed rendering of the figures, especially on the reverse, that makes the viewer cling more to their admiration for this coin.
Each depiction of Athena’s head in these emissions of Pharsalos makes us believe that she has her own character and that no two are the same, even though they share the same characteristics. Athena in our coin looks like a tender girl with a serious but innocent look in her eyes. Her divine power, despite her young age, is not violent; it is simply inherent in the serenity of her gaze.
On the other hand, the detailed rendering of the cavalryman’s and horse's face, the texture of his chlamys, the harmonious matching of muscles and joints in the horse's body, and even the pronounced veins in the horse's belly convince us of a talented engraver and a gifted artist.
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LOT 3021
Thessaly, Pharsalos AR Drachm.
Estimate £2,500 - 3,500€2,900 - 4,060 (for guidance only)$3,380 - 4,730 (for guidance only)
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Nabataea, Rabbel II, with Shaqilat II AR Sela'-Drachm. Dated RY 2(?) (AD 71/2). Petra mint.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £7
Laureate and draped bust of Rabbel to right; date in legend to left / Veiled, laureate, and draped bust of Shaqilat to right. Cf. Barkay 216; cf. DCA 984. 3.83gr, 14mm, 12h.
Good Fine.
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s. -
Scythian, Imitative of Eukratides I AR Tetradrachm. c.130-80 BC.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £260
Diademed and draped bust right, wearing horned Boiotian helmet, within bead-and-reel border / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΜΕΓΑΛΟΥ ΕΥΚΡΑΤΙΔΟΥ, Dioscuri on horseback charging right, with couched spears and holding palm branches, monogram ANT in lower right field. HGC 12, 150. 15.63gr, 32mm, 12h.
Very Fine. Toned.
Property of a London, UK, private collector. -
Nabataea, Syllaios(?), Usurper AE 12mm. Circa 9-6 BC. Petra mint.
Sold for (Inc. bp): £20
Diademed head of Obodas II to right / Veiled head of queen to right. Cf. CN 74; cf. Al-Qatanani 63. 1.48gr, 12mm, 12h.
Near Very Fine.
From the collection of a gentleman, acquired on the London art market in the 1990s.
