Nomos 7

THRACO-MACEDONIAN REGION, Berge (”Lete”). Circa 500 BC. Stater (Silver, 9.60 g). Nude Satyr standing right, grasping the right hand of a nymph who is fleeing right but has turned her head left to gaze at him; to left, right and between the figures, two pellets. Rev. Rough incuse square diagonally divided. HPM pl. VII, 17 (this coin). SNG ANS 948 var. A fascinating piece, one of the earliest staters of “Lete” with a splendid pedigree. Toned, but with a few old scratches and bangs and some crystalization, otherwise, good very fine.

From the Spina Collection, ex Triton V, 15 January 2002, 1265, Hess-Leu 36, 17 April 1968, 142, and from the collection of P. Mathey (”artiste français”), Feuardent, 9 June 1913, 167 .

A fascinating and completely archaic coin, almost primitive in the manner of earlier late Geometric painted pottery figures. Its artistic interest must have struck its first known modern owner, Paul Mathey (1844-1929) a French painter who was acclaimed for his fine, albeit rather conventional portraits. Coins of this type have traditionally been ascribed to Lete; this attribution has recently been changed to Berge.