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Obolos 11

8 December 2018
Webauction
overview
Starting Price: 200 CHF
Hammer Price:  340 CHF
Lot 371

PHILISTIA (PALESTINE), Samaria. Early 4th century BCE. Obol (Silver, 9.5 mm, 0.80 g, 12 h), or 1/16 Shekel, of Sidonian type. Phoenician galley to left, sailing over waves; no visible inscription. Rev. On the left, Persian King standing right, holding dagger in his right hand and, with his left, grasping the head of a lion, on the right, standing rampant to left; between them, lion's head facing. Apparently unpublished. Cf. Meshorer & Qedar 1991, 44 = Traité II, 978 & pl. CXXI, 22 and Meshorer & Qedar 1999, 55 (but both with a bird standing to left between the figures on the reverse, rather than a facing lion's head). Cf. Meshorer & Qedar 1999, 171-172 (for very similar facing lion's heads). Cf. SNG ANS 6, 2 (a tetradrachm of Athenian type with a facing lion's head of the same type as the one here on the reverse). Apparently unique and of great interest. Obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, very fine.

From the Silber Collection, Starnberg.

This hitherto unpublished coin is yet another curious and exciting obol from Samaria, this time copying prototypes from Sidon. The originals of this type were produced from the last quarter of the 5th century on, but the date can be narrowed down into the 4th by the lion's head symbol, which is not only paralleled by lion's heads on Samaritan hemiobols, it is exactly paralleled by lion's heads used as symbols on imitations of Athenian tetradrachms, as ANS 2 cited above, that can only have been produced starting at the very end of the 5th and during the first quarter of the 4th century (the date given for the similar tetradrachm that appeared as lot 227 in CNG esale 244 of 2010, mid 5th century - 333, is far too broad).

Online bidding closes: 8 Dec 2018, 19:05:30 CET Current Date & Time: 29 Mar 2024, 00:19:34 CET Remaining Time: Closed Hammer Price:340 CHF by Napata (5 bids)
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