Lot 3246

Description

Peloponnesos, Messenia, Messene, silver hemidrachm, (90 - 85 B.C.), (2.15 g), obv. head of Zeus to right, with diadem, dotted border, rev. ME **S* either side of tripod, below **PO*, all within laurel wreath, (Sear before 146 B.C.), (S.2849, Grandjean serie X, no.145a [This Coin, p.117, illustrated plate V, obverse die D81, reverse die R121], BCD 740 [p.188], BMC 13-14 [p.110, Pl.XXII,8], McClean 6713-4 [p.444, Pl.229, 5], HGC 5, 568 [R2]). Very dark cabinet patination, nearly extremely fine and very rare with magistrate name.

Ex Classical Numismatic Group, Triton XIII, January 5, 2010 (lot 2185 part), from the BCD Collection and previously from Malcolm Hay September 1979 for 220 SFr., with tickets.
Rarely offered for sale with no examples in Spink Num. Circ. 1973-1994. Grandjean knew of 6 examples of this type, the dies for this example are unique. Two examples in Coin Archives realised 600 SFr (Auctiones 15.9.2013, lot 6) and 340 SFr. (Nomos 25.3.2018, lot 622).