Gold Coins
Greek Gold Coins
index greek roman
other ancients byzantine medieval angel early modern modern royal

artnouveau

postwar

 silver

Greek Gold Coins

Coinage was invented in the seventh century BCE in the Black Sea region northeast of Greece, where the alluvial flow of gold and silver mixed together yeilded the metal known as electrum. Gold and Silver had been used by the earliest Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations as a store of wealth, and a medium of trade. But this naturally occuring electrum was first coined by the kings of Lydia, Miletos, Ephesos, Phokia, and then Lesbos and Kyzykos.

These coins undoubtedly were responsible for a boom in trade both between city-states, and in the rapid escalation of local markets. Herodutus famously refered to the Lydians as a nation of shopkeepers.

The largest unit of trade was the "Stater" which was a translation of the semitic "Shekel," a unit of weight used in the semitic East. Weights varied from between 14 and 16 grams according to local standards. These staters were broken down into trites (thirds) hektes (sixths) and various smaller units.

Croesus of Lydia was the first king to separate the electrum to issue gold and silver coins circa 545 BCE. He was conquered by Darios of Persia who issued his own gold and silver coinage. Coinage spread quickly in the early fifth century BCE through the Greek city states. Most of the trade coinage was silver, while gold was most often reserved for emergency issues associated with war.

THE COINS: The Dawn of Coinage: click on the coins to see the image enlarged.

Grading: Many coins have been graded at NGC by David Vagi, the head of the new ancients department. Though this service has not yet been embraced by some dealers, I believe it is a crucial step towards bringing uniformity and objectivity into the grading and authentication process.

Ancient coins are works of art; no two are alike, and a grade is just a subjective guideline. At the same time, I credit NGC with developing a nuanced grading system that tends to give a more comprehensive grade than a simple numerical value. In the long run, it is inevitable that collectors will benefit from this developement.

CH: choice, MS: minst state, AU: about uncirculated, XF: extremely fine, VF: Very Fine. Important additional grades are given to the strike and surface of the coin.

Two additional notations of importance for ancient coins:

The NGC "**" (star) designation indicates a coin of superior visual appeal, resulting in an image far more beautiful than the technical grade might suggest.

"Fine Style" coins are often recognized by this notation. In all art, style is at least as important as condition. Ancient celators (die engravers) ranged from journeymen who simply knew how to operate the equipment to world famous artists hired expressly to dignifiy particular issues. For obvious reasons, great works of art are valued differently than pedestrian utilitarian issues.

POR (price on request) coins are those of great rarity due to the coin and condition. This makes these coins most difficult to replace. Collectors coming to ancients from US and World coins, please try to understand: If a US or world coin is limited to an issue of a couple of thousand, it is considered to be a great rarity. An issue of this size would make for the most common of ancient gold coins. A very rare ancient gold coin might be limited to a dozen or so examples in the market - or less. This is why they are so hard to replace.
ARCHAIC GREEK COINS: LYDIA AND THE DAWN OF COINAGE: The coinage of Lydia is generally regarded as the first coinage. My own theory regarding the earliest inscribed coins is that they bear Phoenician lettering copied from seals used in trade from the fertile cresecent. (The Lydian alphabet, most often ascribed to these coins, was not codified until the 4th century.) These seals bore the inscription LMLK (of the king) which were used on some very rare Lydian coins. Other rare Lydian coins, such as the specimen below bear the name of the Lydian King: YRDYS (ARDYS). The more common interpretation is to read the inscription as "Walwet" though this interpretation uses a Lydian alphabet which would not have been codified for another 200 years.

KINGS OF LYDIA. ARDYS Circa 650-620 BCE. EL Trite 1/3 stater (4.77g)

Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion right, YRDYS in Phoenician lettering/ Double square incuse punch. Weidauer 91. Le Rider, La naissance de la monnaie, pp. 49-57. Remarkably well preserved specimen of history's first inscribed coin - on a large flan, with minimal die rust, and a perfectly legible inscription. The snout of an opposing lion visible rt. An altogether superior example of this extremely rare issue, and of the highest historical significance.

NGC

KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes II. Circa 620-560 BC. EL Trite 1/3 Stater (4.75 g).

Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion right, sun (early style) with rays on forehead / Two incuse square punches. Rosen Coll. 656. SNG von Aulock 2868. Ex- Numismatik Lanz, 141, remarkably well detailed and preserved. Superb for the issue, and certainly amongst the finest extant.

NGC Graded: CH AU, Str 5/5 surf 4/5
reserved

KINGS OF LYDIA, Croesus. Circa 561-546 BC. AV Stater (8.05 gm). Time of Croesus. Light Series.

Confronted foreparts of lion facing right and bull facing left, both with straight legs / Two square incuse punches. A magnificent example of the first gold coinage in world history. And certainly amongst the finest extant.

Boston MFA 2073; Dewing 2431; SNG von Aulock 2875.

NGC Graded: CH MS, Str 5/5, surf 5/5
reserved

KINGS OF LYDIA. Croesus, 561-546 BC. AV Stater. (8.09 g) time of Croesus to Kambyses 561-525

Roaring lion confronting bull/ two incuse punches. A magnificent example of the first gold coinage in world history. And certainly amongst the finest extant.

Boston 2073; SNG Berry 1138
.
NGC Graded: CH MS, str 5/5, surf 5/5
reserved

Kings of Miletos. (650-575BC) EL Stater. (14.07g.)
Roaring lion, head lft in rectangular pattern/ three punches: cruciform pattern, fox running, stag's head left. Weidauer 126. Rare, and exceptional for the issue, on a near perfectly oval flan, devoid of flan cracks and flaws that plague this issue, very well struck, and centered.

sold
Acheluos, is an ancient River God deriving from the Shiva|Dionysus fertility cults that predate the Achaen invasions. The Greek word Lwos means both destruction and liberation (destruction of societal strictures and liberation from the same): the function of Shiva/Dionysus. Just like Nandi - the attendant and disciple of Shiva - Acheluos transforms himself either into a bull-headed man (in Ovid) or, as commonly depicted in Greek coinage; the man-headed bull. He assumes this latter form when he fights and is defeated by Hercules the Achaen Hero, just as the Minotaur is defeated by Theseus.

Mysia, Kyzikos (C 450-400 BC) El Stater (16.06g.)


Obv: River God Acheluos son of Gaia and Oceanus, tunny behind. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze V 22, BMC 82.
Ex Gorny 1993. Sharp high relief strike with superb details, well centered on a magnificent oval flan. An important image in the history of religious thought, exceptional and extremely rare, esp in this condition

NGC Graded AU, Strike 4/5, surf 3/5
Sold

MYSIA, Lampsakos. 500-450 BC.
EL Stater (15.34 gm).

Forepart of pegasus left, surrounded by a grapevine / Quadripartite incuse square.

A. Baldwin, The Electrum Coinage of Lampsakos (1914), 8, 12 und Tf. 1, 10. Gulbenkian II, 73, 678. Beautiful strike on a nice full flan. Very rare early archaic issue, and exceptionaly well centered and detailed for the issue.

NGC graded CH XF, strike 5/5 surf 5/5
sold

MYSIA, Kyzikos. Circa 500-450 BC. EL Hekte – 1/6 Stater (2.68 g). Lion at bay left on tunny left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze I 83; SNG France 212; SNG von Aulock 1187-8. Very Rare.

NGC graded Ch XF, strike 5/5, surf 3/5
$3600

IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. EL Hekte (2.58 gm). Head of a roaring lion left; seal to right / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 38 (dies a/b); BMC Ionia -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock, SNG Kayhan - Extremely rare early archaic lion, only four specimens cited by Bodenstedt, all in museum collections. This specimen is the finest of the four.

NGC graded AU, strike 5/5, surf 4/5
$7500

LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 412-378 BC. EL Hekte (2.57 gm). Forepart of winged lion left / Sphinx seated right within linear square. Bodenstedt Em. 63 (dies a/a); Boston MFA 1696. Rare

NGC graded Ch XF, strike 4/5, surf 4/5
$3,200

LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 377-326 BC. EL Hekte (2.53 gm,). Head of Athena facing slightly right, wearing triple crested Attic helmet / Head of Hermes right, Petasos hanging behind head. Bodenstedt Em. 86 BMC Troas pg. 163, 71; SNG Copenhagen 319; Provenance CNG (Triton). astonishing portrait of Athena.

NGC graded AU, strike 5/5, surf 4/5 rev mark noted....................... $3400
The Aechemenid or Persian Empire was forged by Cyrus the Great (liberator of the Jews of the Babylonian captivity) in about 550 BCE. Darios I conquered Croesus of Lydia and adopted his system of gold and silver coinage. The Persians dominated three continents spanning from Parthia and Bactria (modern day India) through Mesopotamia to the Black Sea Region and down through the Fertile Crescent.
Late in the sixth century BC the Persian kings decided to inaugurate a gold coinage bearing their own types, rather than continuing to use those of Kroisos of Lydia. These new coins, which bore a generalized portrait of the Persian king, must have been produced in enormous numbers, and were surely the best known gold coin of the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
The last Achemenid King, Darios III, was conquered by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE. With the fall of Persia to Alexander, the vast majority of the then existing darics were surely all melted down to supply bullion for Alexander’s own gold staters.

PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. Time of Darios I to Xerxes II. Circa 485-420 BC. AV Daric (8.26 g).

Great King of Persia running to right, wearing kidaris, holding bow in his left hand and spear in his right. Rev. Rectangular incuse. Carradice Type IIIb A/B (pl. XIII, 27). A superb example, nicely struck in high relief.

NGC graded MS: strk 5/5 surf 5/5
reserved

PERSIA. Achaemenid Empire. Time of Artaxerxes II-Darius III. Ca. 375-336 BC. AV daric (8.33 gm).


Persian hero or king in kneeling-running stance right holding spear and bow / patterned incuse punch. Carradice Type IIIb Late (pl. XV, 50). Rare late issue. Deeply struck on a large flan in high relief, and nicely detailed with fine style.

NGC graded AU, strike 5/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted............................. POR

MACEDONIA: Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BCE) inherited a war torn country from his brother Pedikas III. From his years as hostage of neighboring Thebes he learned the military strategy based on the phalanx whose manoevers were hidden by rows of warriors bearing "sarissas" - immensely long spears. A gifted warrior and statesmen, Philip, by a combination of strategic alliances and dramatic wars, managed to conquer Macedonia, Illyria, Epirus, Thrace, Thessaly and all of Greece save Sparta. He then set his eyes on Persia, but was murdered on the eve of his planned invasion. His Son Alexander, who was tutored by Aristotle, inherited the throne and conquered Persia and then India, extending his Empire throughout most of the known world.

The gold issues of Alexander the Great consist of Athena/Nike Staters, Di (double) staters, halfs, quarters. After his death his portrait was placed on coins first by his brother Philip III, then by the generals who split up his empire to confer legitimacy on their own rule. Some of the early posthumus portraits are rendered in the finest style of the of the classical Greek period.

KINGS of MACEDON. Alexander III the Great, 336-323 BC. AV Distater (17.17 g) Aigai/ pella(?) mint.

Lifetime issue, struck circa 332-323 BC. Head of Athena right, / ALEXANDROU, Nike standing left, vertical thunderbolt in left field, LO monogram below left wing. Price 191; Very Rare. struck in high relief, Certainly amongst the finest, if not the finest extant.

NGC graded CH MS, strike 5/5, surf 5/5
reserved

KINGS of MACEDON Alexander III the Great, 336-323 AV Stater (8.52 gm) Babylon mint, Early posthumous issue, circa 311-305 BC.

Head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet / BA-ΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing left, holding wreath and stylis, H in left field, monogram in wreath below. Price 3749; Muller 732. Pleasing style. Rare in perfect MS condition.

NGC graded MS, Strike 5/5 Surf 5/5
$8500

SELEUKED KINGS of SYRIA Seleukos I (Nikator) 312-281 BC, in the name of Alexander the Great. Babylon mint. struck circa 311-300 BC.

Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with serpent, single-pendant earring, and necklace / BA-ΣIΛEΩΣ AΛEΞANΔPOY, Nike standing right, holding wreath in extended right hand and cradling stylis in left arm; monogram in wreath under left wing, HP monogram below right wing. SC 81.8 var. (opposite position of controls); Price 3715 var.

NGC graded: CH AU ** strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted......$7200

SELEUKED KINGS of SYRIA Seleukos I (Nikator) 312-281 BC.

AV-Stater, (8.61 g) Carrhae mint, 310-290 BC Obv.: Helmeted head of Athena
Rev.: ΣΕΛEYKOY Nike l., wreath, stylis.
SC 40.1; WSM 766.

Extremely rare with Seleuked inscription - other staters are sometimes attributed to Seleukos I, (see above.) but without the inscription it must be considered very educated guesswork.

NGC graded CH XF strike 4/5, surf 4/5
$8500

KINGS of MACEDON Philip III.
AV Stater (8.56 g,). Kolophon mint. circa 323-319 BC.

Laureate head of Apollo right, with the features of Alexander the Great/ FILIPPOU, charioteer (Pelops - the derivation of the name Philip) driving biga right, tripod below horses.

Early Alexander portrait. Excessively Rare - the finest of two or three known. Superbly realized with realistic features in high relief, in relation and distinction to the idealized Kolophon portrait below - though, quite possibly by the same artist. A coin of great historical and numismatic interest.

NGC graded Choice AU ** strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted.............POR

KINGS of MACEDON Philip III.
AV Stater (8.54 g,). Kolophon mint. circa 323-319 BC.

Laureate head of Apollo right, with the features of Alexander the Great/ FILIPPOU, charioteer (Pelops - the derivation of the name Philip) driving biga right, tripod below horses. Thompson, Philip 12, Le Rider pl. 93, 26; with a superb portrait of Alexander. Light surface marks only visible through a powerful loop, nevertheless stunning. Rare.

NGC graded MS: strk 5/5, surf 3/5,
fine style noted.......................POR

KINGS of THRACE. Lysimachos, 323-281 BC. AV Stater (8.52 g) minted possibly at Pella, 286-281 BC.

Diademed head right of the deified Alexander the Great wearing the horn of Ammon above ear. Reverse: Athena Nikephoros enthroned left, holding Nike in her extended right hand, resting left elbow on shield with aegis; in left field, monogram. Cf. Thompson (Essays Robinson) 240 for a similar monogram; SNG Cop --; M. Very Rare lifetime issue -lovely style, fully lusterous and struck in high relief.

NGC GRADED......reserved

KINGS of THRACE. Lysimachos. 323-281 BC. AV Stater (8.39 gm). Byzantium mint 225-205 BC.

Diademed head of deified Alexander right, wearing horn of Ammon / BASILEWS LYSIMAXOU, Athena seated left, holding Nike, with shield, spear behind; SNG COP 1086. Superb portrait of Alexander the Great - clearly from a contemporary marble. Extremely rare.

NGC graded: CH AU, strike 5/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted, rev marks noted.
POR
PTOLEMAIC EGYPT: After the death of Alexander the Great, his generals (referred to as his bodyguards) split up his empire in a series of wars. Lysimachus got Thrace. He produced a series of gold staters that became a standard of trade coinage that endured for 300 years. Seleukos Nikator (the victor) won the Eastern Empire, making his capital Antioch; and Ptolemy Soter (the savior) took Egypt. The Seleuked dynasty figures prominently in the old testament Books of the Maccabees. Their gold coinage is quite rare.
The Ptolemies presided over a tremendous period of cultural prosperity that included the founding of the college at Alexandria, which hosted the brightest scholars and philosophers of the day, and the famed library which imported and commissioned copies of all the important literature of the era, including the translation of the Old Testament know as the Septuagint. This translation provides us with the earliest extant version of the five Books of Moses (Pentateuch). Ptolemy I himself wrote the difinitve history of Alexander's campaigns.
The Ptolemies produced a prolific gold coinage, as Egypt lay in the center of the trade route that included the gold mines of Guinea West Africa, and Kush (Auxum/Ethiopia). Yet their coinage seems to have been used exclusively within Egypt.

PTOLEMAIC KINGDOM. Ptolemy I. Soter (the savior) under Magas, ca. 300-298 BC. Gold stater (7.11 gm).

Diademed head of Ptolemy I right, ΠΤΟΛΕΜΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΕ, deified Alexander standing left in elephant quadriga, holding thunderbolt, ΙΠΠΟΚΡ monogram. Naville 243 Svoronos 102. The first coin ever to use the image a living king. Extremely rare.

NGC graded CH XF strike 4/5, surf 4/5
sold

Unpublished, signed by the artist: A (rather than D), as determined by D. Vagi at NGC. Studies to follow.

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy I or II 300-246 BC. AV Pentadrachm (17.83 gm,). Obverse die signed by the artist A. Alexandria mint. Diademed bust of Ptolemy I right, wearing aegis; tiny A (signature) behind ear / Eagle standing left on thunderbolt; monogram to left. Excessively Rare. The first gold portrait coin signed by an artist. With an exceptional portrait.

NGC graded CH AU, str 5/5, surf 3/5, fine style noted, tiny obv graffito noted
POR

PTOLEMAIC KINGS of EGYPT. Ptolemy II Philadelphos, Arsinöe II. 285-246 BC. AV Oktadrachm (27,77 g.) struck after 265, Alexandria mint.

ADELFWN Busts of Ptolemy II, draped and diademed and bust of Arsinoe II, veiled and diademed, jugate to r. Rev. QEWN Draped and diademed bust of Ptolemy I and veiled and diademed bust of Berenice I, jugate to r. Svoronos 603. SNG Cop. 132. Superb style and strike in high sculptural relief. Extremely rare in this state of preservation.

NGC Graded: MS, str 5/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted.......... POR

PTOLEMAIC KINGS OF EGYPT
PTOLEMY VI,VIII, 180-116 BC.
AV Octodrachm (27.88 g), Alexandria mint.

Veiled head of Arsinoê II, with diadem and stephane, and in left field, K. R: Double cornucopiae, bound with fillet; Arsinoê Philedephou. Svoronos 1498-9; SNG Cop. 321-2; SNG Delepierre 3063 (as head of Cleopatra I); Dewing Coll. 2762. Certainly amongst the finest extant.
ex-Millennia Sale, Lot 71.

NGC graded MS ** Strike 5/5, surf 4/5
POR

WESTERN GREEK GOLD: As mentioned, western Greek Gold, was often a product of emergency war issues, minted to pay off armies. Carthage, Epirus, Syracuse, and Calabria all minted gold pieces, often in conjunction with wars waged against a new rising power in the region: Rome.

Dionysus I of Syracuse (432-367 BCE) engaged in numerous wars during his long reign. He was reputed to be a bloodthirsty tyrant of literary and artistic pretensions. He invited Plato and Philistus to his court; he wrote his own plays and poetry, and he hired the greatest artists of the day to carve dies for his coinage. Among the most beautiful acheivements of clasical Greek art are some of the dies carved by Euainetos such as the 100 litrae featured below:

SICILY, Syracuse, Dionysus I
405-400 BC

AV 100 Litrae (5.79g) obv: Head of Arethustra with triple pendant, earing, and necklace. Hair ornamented with stars, star behind ear. Rev: Herakles strangling the Nemean lion. Berend 40, SNG ANS 337, Delepierre 687. High relief dies in the finest style of - but not signed by - Euainetos. Extremely rare in MS. One of the most beautiful coins ever minted, in extraordinary condition.

NGC graded MS, strike 5/5, surf 3/5, fine style noted.................... POR

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios . 405-367 BC.
AV Dekadrachm - 50 Litrai (2.89 g). Struck circa 400-370 BC. Head of Anapos left; ΣYPAKOΣIΩN around/ Horse prancing right on exergual line inscribed [ΣYPA]KOΣIΩ; within incuse square. Bérend 10.3; SNG ANS 347; Boston MFA 436 = Warren 354; de Luynes 1239; Jameson 1918; Weber 1610. Fine style, high relief. Without the die rust and die breaks that plague this issue.

NGC graded: CH AU, strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted......... POR.

SICILY, Syracuse. Timoleon and the Third Democracy. 344-317 BC.

AV Hemidrachm – 30 Litrai (2.15 g). Struck circa 344-339/8 BC. Head of Zeus left, wearing laurel wreath; [ZEY]Σ EΛEY[ΘEPIOΣ] around / Pegasos flying left; ΣYP-A-K-OΣIΩN around, AP monogram before, Garraffo pl. 1, 8 SNG ANS 493 corr.; SNG Lloyd 1440 ; Rizzo pl. 58, 1 Jameson 851 . As nice as this coin comes.

NGC graded AU, strike 5/5, surf 5/5, fine style noted..............POR

SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC.
AV Tetrobol – Dekadrachm (2.83 g,). Struck circa 305-289 BC. Head of Apollo left, wearing laurel wreath / Charioteer, driving galloping biga right; triskeles below horses, monogram in exergue. Bérend, l’or pl. 9, 11; BAR Issue 30; SNG ANS 706 var. (Φ in exergue); SNG Lloyd 1474 var. (T in exergue); Jameson 859 var. (Φ in exergue); Gulbenkian 33.Ex James A. Ferrendelli Collection Triton VI. Very rare, and certainly amongst the finest extant.

NGC Graded: CH AU **, strike 5/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted ..... POR

SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC.

El 50 Litrae, 310/300 v. Chr.; (3,58 gm) Laureate head of Appolo l., Kantharos behind //Tripod. Syrakosion. Jenkins in Essays Robinson O 4/R2 Superb for the issue with high obverse relief and high gold content


NGC Graded AU str 5/5, surf 3/5
(edge marks).............................$5200

SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron II. 274-216 BC.

AV 60 Litrae, Dekadrachm (4.26 gm) Wreathed head of Persephone left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace; / Charioteer in galloping biga left, holding reins in left. A rare type, esp in MS, and notably devoid of the die rust that plagues most of Hieron's gold coinage.

NGC graded MS, strike 5/5, surf 3/5, fine style noted, rev scuffs noted.... POR

Carthage was founded by Semitic Phoenician (Punic) traders around 700 BCE. About 300 years earlier The Phoenicians had developed the single greatest invention in Western History: the Alpahbetic system of writing. This Alphabet was quickly adopted by both the Aryan speaking tribes of Greece and the Black Sea (from whom we get Greek and then Latin) and the Semitic tribes of the Fertile Crescent (from whom we get Hebrew and the Arabic languages.) In one of the great ironies of history, because the Phoenecians used this language primarily for practical accounting purposes, we know relatively little about this brilliant civilization, whereas their cousins to the South - the Judaeans (whose language, customs, city planning, art and religion were manifestly similar) - adopted the system of writing and created a narrative literature that captured the imagination of people down to this day.

Through a quirk of linguistic fate, the Judaeans called their God 'El,' rather than the Phoenecian 'Baal,' and then the Aramaic speaking Arabs called their God 'Elah' - distinctions that formed the justification for thousands of years of bloody tribal conflict.

By the third century BCE, enriched by control of the gold trade from Senegal, Guinea and Kush, Carthage had become a military powerhouse of the Southern Mediteranean. The Punic goddess Tanit\Astarte (the consort of Baal) and the horse had become the standard types of Carthaginian coinage and remained so for the balance of the city’s existence. Tanit is always depicted on the coinage wearing a wreath of grain just like her Greek counterpart Demeter.

Carthage waged a series of successful wars in Sicily and Italy ( notably under Hannibal - or Hani-baal) until it was destroyed in 146 BCE after the third Punic War by the Romans.

CARTHAGE. Circa 350-320 BC. AV Stater ( 9.39 g ). Early issue circa 350

Head of Tanit to left, wearing grain wreath, triple-pendant earring and a pearl necklace with eight pendants. Rev. Horse standing to right; before his hooves to right, three pellets. Jenkins & Lewis Group IIIg, 57 (same obverse die, and possibly the same reverse die as well). superbly detailed and well struck on a broad flan, with a beautiful early style that was copied by the artist of the trihemistater below. (ex-Nomos AG - graded good EF) - appears to be mint state/ as struck. Very rare.

NGC graded CH AU , strk 5/5, surf 4/5
POR

Zeugitana. Carthage. c. 350-320 BC. AV Stater, (8.97g).

Obv: Head of Tanit facing left, wearing reeds in her hair, triple ear pendant, and necklace. Dotted border. Rx: Horse standing to right. On the body, single dot. On exergual line, three dots. Dotted border. Jenkins-Lewis Group IIIi (cf. no. 100, but different dies). Magnificent and extremely rare realisitc portrait style: a masterpiece of classical Greek Art. Light contact marks otherwise nearly as struck.
The Rockefeller University/Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky collection.. Ex-Gemini VII

NGC graded CH AU, str 4/5, surf 4/5, fine style noted................ POR

ZEUGITANA. Carthage
Circa 310-270 BC. EL Stater (7.43 gm).

Wreathed head of Tanit left, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace / Horse standing right; three pellets on exergue line. Jenkins & Lewis Group VI, 317 var. (same obverse die, no pellets); MAA 13; SNG Copenhagen 138 var. (one pellet on reverse). well centered on a choice flan, unusually nice for the issue.

NGC graded CH XF: strike 5/5, surf 4/5
$5200


ZEUGITANA. Carthage. Ca. 260 BC. Gold trihemistater or tridrachm (12.59 gm).

Head of Tanit left, wearing triple pendant earring and necklace with many pendants, hair wreathed with grain / Stallion standing right, head reverted. Jenkins & Lewis Group IX, 389 (same dies). Gulbenkian 384. A beautiful example struck from fresh dies, free from the usual die wear that often plagues this denomination, Ex Peter Guber collection. A coin of remarkable style, and certainly amongst the finest extant.

NGC graded: MS **, strike 5/5, surface 4/5, fine style noted.......... reserved
 
 

For info, comments, purchase requests contact: Jeff Kahn at Jkahn21@nyc.rr.com
Rare Gold Coins | Greek Gold Coins | Medieval Gold Coins | Roman Gold Coins