Greek Silver & Bronze

Lot 3331    Session 11 (9.30am Thursday)    Greek Silver & Bronze

Estimate $12,500
Bid at live.noble.com.au
SOLD $12,000

CARIA, Island of, Rhodes, (c.375-360 B.C., Ashton dates c.360-late 340's B.C.), silver tetradrachm, (15.092 grams), obv. head of Helios three-quarter face to right with hair loose, rev. rose, with bud and A on right, to left horse head, above **POD ION*, all within incuse square, (cf.S.5035, Ashton 87 [notes three examples known including this piece], Gulbenkian 774 [same obverse die], NFA XVIII [May 31, 1987] lot 206 [same dies], cf. Berend SNR 51 [1971] 24 Pl.7, 79 for obverse die of similar style]). A superb piece of splendid late classical style, extremely fine and extremely rare.

The treatment of the hair and eyes on this wonderful facing head of Helios, coupled with the small neat lettering of the reverse ethnic, suggests this piece belongs near or after the end of the sequence established by Berend in 'Les tetradrachms de Rhodes de la premiere periode' SNR 51, which covered the initial period of Rhodian Helios tetradrachms, c. 408-390's B.C. This appears to be the third recorded example from this set of dies with the horse's head as a control mark, the first being offered in Leu 28 (1981) and subsequently in NFA XVIII (1987) where it realised US$36,000 against an estimate of US$18,000-20,000 and again sold in Leu Sale 81 May 16, 2001 (lot 294) for 28,000 SFr. A piece struck from the same obverse die, but from a different reverse die with the same control marks (horse's head and A) is recorded in the Gulbenkian collection (774).