TheNewYorkSaleauctionXL

1047

Islands off Thrace, Thasos. Æ (8.31 g), ca. 355-340 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion’s skin

headdress. Rev.

QASIWN

, bow and club; within bow, wreath. (cf. Le Rider 36-7; cf. SNG Copenhagen 1052;

cf. HGC 6, 362).

Rare

an unpublished variety of a seldom offered type.

Brown patina. Very fine.

$ 300

1048

Thessaly, Larissa. Silver Drachm (6.03 g), ca. 405/0-370 BC. Head of the nymph Larissa facing

slightly left, wearing ampyx. Rev.

LARI

, horse grazing right. (L-S group 6, head type 28 (O134/R2),

specimen b = C. Lorber, “The Early Facing Head Drachms of Thessalian Larissa,”

Florilegium Numismaticum

91.2b (this coin); BCD Thessaly II 268-9 (same obv. die)). Beautiful iridescent tone and captivating style.

Extremely fine.

$ 2,500

ex MMAG 95 (4 October 2004), lot 135

ex Athena Fund (Sotheby’s Zurich, 27 October 1993), lot 501

ex NFA List 41 (June 1992), lot 43.

The beginning of the facing head drachms of Larissa has been associated tentatively with the conflict between the city and Lykophron,

the tyrant of Pherai, over the control of the splintered Thessalian League.Although it has become a numismatic mantra that the

facing head drachms reflect the imitation of the famous facing Arethusa coins of Syracuse signed by Kimon, more recent assessments

of style and artistic quality of the Larissan issues has led to the conclusion that their facing head type should not be considered

imitative, but a sign of fresh artistic exploration in Northern Greece.

1049

Thessaly, Larissa. Silver Drachm (5.88 g), ca. 405/0-370 BC. Head of the nymph Larissa facing

slightly right, hair bound with ampyx. Rev. [

LARIS

], horse grazing right. (Lorber & Shahar grp. 4,

dies O63/R2, specimen b (this coin); BCD Thessaly II 234 (same dies)). Lovely style. Toned. About

Extremely fine.

$ 600

ex Gorny & Mosch 130 (8 March 2004), lot 1178.