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Lot 174
2013 Britannia 1oz silver uncirculated coin, boxed with certificate, £20 silver coin in "Timeless First" slip holder, three Royal Mint Britannia 1oz fine silver coins, 2009, 2010 and 2011 and three others, Victorian era coinage of Great Britain set, WWII set of seven half-crowns 1939-1945 and sundry coins (2 boxes)
Lot 84
A tarot set in a wooden and pierced box, Legends the Arthurian tarot set in a pierced wooden box, a first day cover "Man's First Landing on the Moon", a postcard of Gloucester Cathedral, a ten sheet road map of England and Wales, a 30th anniversary of John Boorman's Excalibur with Morgana, Helen Mirren, signed Terry English and dated 2012 and Lewis Hamilton picture with facsimile signature
Lot 277
A First World War 55th Division ASC Officer's Cuff Rank Tunic, bearing 55th Division first pattern circular cloth formation patches, being a red rose with green stem on a circular khaki ground, shoulders showing signs of insignia for a Second Lieutenant, the cuffs bearing marks for the rank of Captain, full compliment of ASC buttons, medal ribbons for Military OBE, British War Medal, Vicotry Medal with MID and Territorial Force War Medal.
Lot 288
First War Trio and Death Plaque Grouping to the 4th Battalion The Royal Fusiliers, comprising 1914 Star to L-15447 L.CPL G. HURLOCK 4/R.FUS. British War Medal and Victory Medal to L-15447 PTE. G. HURLOCK R.FUS. Death Plaque named to GEORGE HURLOCK, together with its Commemoration Certificate to L/Cpl George Hurlock Royal Fusiliers and a sepia photograph of George Hurlock, all framed and glazed. The medals and plaque in very fine order. Lance Corporal George Hurlock was killed on the 21st of October 1914 and is commemorated on panel 6 of the Le Touret Memorial, he was the son of Ernest and Anna Hurlock of 231 Hampton Road Twickenham.
Lot 305
First War Pair and Special Constabulary Medal Group of Three, to 134257 GNR. C. ASBURY. R.A. on the Pair and CLAUDE ASBURY on the Special Constabulary Medal, together with a Second War group of four comprising 39-45 Star, Atlantic Star with France and Germany Bar, The Pacific Star with Burma Bar and the 39-45 Medal and ribbon bar with rosettes. (3)
Lot 308
Queen's South Africa Medal and Death Plaque Group of Four, to 5913 PTE C. GALE. NORTHAMPTON REGT on the QSA with SOUTH AFRICA 1902 and CAPE COLONY bars, (re-pinned to clasp), 19176 PTE. C. GALE NOTTS & DERBY: R on the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, CHARLES GALE on the Death Plaque, together with a First War Trio to 14229 PTE J. GALE NOTTS & DERBY: R on the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, a quantity of paperwork being a trimmed memorial scroll for Charles Gale, Certificates of Death for Charles Gale and Albert Gale and Discharge Certificate of a Militiaman to Charles Gale, St Johns and Colliery Rescue Medal to John Gale. Private Charles Gale was killed on the 22nd of March 1918 aged 34, he served with the 12th Bn Sherwood Foresters and an is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial.
Lot 311
First War Royal Warwickshire Regiment 1st Birmingham Battalion Insignia Grouping, comprising, two cap badges with the 1ST BIRMINGHAM BATTALION scroll, a further example with just the ROYAL WARWICKSHIRE scroll, a pair of R.WARWICKSHIRE shoulder titles and seven 1st Birmingham Battalion tunic buttons.
Lot 35
Two Late 19th Century Indian Axes and a Tulwar, the first axe 71cm over all length, 12cm diameter head decorated with scrolling foliage in silver damascene, spike form terminal, the second 56cm over all length, 12cm diameter head decorated with scrolling foliage in silver damascene, terminal missing, the haft pommel unscrews to reveal a square section spike, together with a Tulwar of characteristic form with leather wrapped wooden scabbard. (3)
Lot 373
A First War Presentation Royal Artillery Officer's Sword to Lt. Band DCM, 86.5cm blade by HENRY WILKINSON, serial no. 54615 etched with scrolling foliage, Royal Arms, Regimental devices and the inscription PRESENTED TO LIEUT. J. BAND. D.C.M. BY HIS FELLOW MEMBERS OF THE WEST HUNSLET CONSERVATIVE CLUB IN APPRECIATION OF THE HONOURS CONFERRED UPON HIM ON THE 19TH DECEMBER 1915. AND THE 30TH MAY 1917, regulation three-bar steel hilt with stepped pommel, wire bound fishskin grip, contained in its field service scabbard complete with frog and straps. London Gazette 14th January 1916 - Awarded DCM - 1420 Battery Serjeant-Major J. Band, 2nd (West Riding) Battery, Royal Field Artillery, T.F.
Lot 44
Two Horn Mounted Eastern Daggers, the first with 18cm wavy blade, carved horn hilt set with mother-o'-pearl discs, contained in its brass mounted horn scabbard decorated to match, together with a further horn hilted dagger with sharply tapering 15.5cm blade with off-set fuller, turned horn hilt, contained in its plated brass scabbard decorated with stylised foliage and caligraphy. (2)
Lot 463
Four Third Reich Dagger Portepee, the first with an over all length of 46cm, the second 30.5cm, the third 29.5cm and the last approximately 32cm, the first in good condition with light wear, the second and third with light wear and some fraying, the last very worn and damaged and a leather upper grip strap for an SA dagger. (5)
Lot 1290
A set of four framed colour plate illustrations of North American Indian traditional costume, taken from "Bureau of American Ethnology - twenty-first Annual Report", printed by the Heliotype Co. Boston, 22cm x 14cm, four images to the page, in ebonis ed metal frames, cream mounted and glazed (This report was presented to the Smithsonian Institution - 1800/1900)
Lot 2050
ROLLS ROYCE SILVER SPUR Registration No: 9999 FD, first registered 29th January 1987 one owner from new, bears Jack Barclay name plate, yellow coachwork, leather interior, four door saloon, 7650 cc petrol engine, automatic transmission, recorded mile age 219,400, MOT until 22nd July 2016. Service history and maintained by Broughtons, Cheltenham Spa. illustrated
Lot 30
A French silver racing trophy, after Raoul Verlet ‘La douleur d’Orphee’, inscribed ‘F. Barbedienne Fondeur’, presented for 'Courses de Maisons Laffitte Prix Lagrange 1897', naturalistically modelled as Orpheus, standing on textured terrain effect bas e with three headed beast and lyre instrument, all placed on marble canted plinth with silver plaque engraved ‘Courses de Maisons Laffitte Prix Lagrange 1897’, 107cm high Note: The plaster model of La douleur d’Orphee was first exhibited at the Sal on of 1887 illustrated
Lot 51
WHITE STAR LINE COLONIAL SERVICE PASSENGER LIST FOR TWIN SCREW STEAMER "AFRIC", 11,948 TONS, SAILING FROM LIVERPOOL, MARCH 14 1907. EPHMERA COMPRISING FACSMILIES OF C18th & C19th NEWSPAPERS, THREE DAILY SKETCH NEWSPAPERS RELATING TO THE FIRST APOLLO MOON LANDING MONDAY JULY 21 1969 AND TUESDAY 22. DER WELT SPIEGEL 19 JULY 1908. MAKEPEAC'E RAILWAY GUIDE, NOVEMBER 1918 AND OVER 50 KENSITAS FLOWERS. ALSO A LEATHER SUITCASE (L: 56 cm)
Lot 109
Central Italy, uncertain mint Æ20. 1st century BC. Bearded head of Vulcan right, wearing wreathed pileus, P CAIO behind / Ring from which are suspended two strigils and an aryballos. Cf. C. Stannard, Iconographic parallels between the local coinages of central Italy and Baetica in the first century BC, 1996, 39. 6.90g, 20mm, 7h. Very Fine. Very Rare. From the VCV Collection.
Lot 12
Etruria, Populonia (or Pisae) AR 20 Units. Early 5th century BC. Amphora with blunt base set in elaborate stand, from the top of which emerges an Octopus, tentacles spread to either side, XX below, all within linear border. EC I, Pisae 1.5 (this coin): HN Italy 104 (Pisae?); Sambon 20. 22.55g, 29mm. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare; one of just five recorded examples, of which it is among the finest and the only one in private hands. From the VCV Collection. The tentative attribution to Pisae of the octopus/amphora series is based on Garrucci's statement (p. 49, 18) that two examples, first published by Bompois 1879, pl. 18, come from Pisa and that the name teuthìs or teuthòs, Greek for octopus, is similar to the ethnic Teuta-Teutones recorded by Pliny and Cato as the name of the first inhabitants of Italian Pisa. Subsequent provenances attested for in and around Pisa including Toscanelli 1933 (p. 369 note 2 ), Neppi-Modona 1953 (p. 30h and p. 42 k), Bruni 1993 (pp. 81-82), ASAT (p. 63), Tesei 1992 (p. 196), BTCGI XIII (pp. 597-598) and HN Italy (p. 30) only tentatively imply a Pisan provenance for the series. The tentative attribution to Pisae of the octopus/amphora series is based on Garrucci’s statement (p. 49, 18) that two examples, first published by Bompois 1879, pl. 18, come from Pisa and that the name teuthìs or teuthòs, Greek for octopus, is similar to the ethnic Teuta-Teutones recorded by Pliny and Cato as the name of the first inhabitants of Italian Pisa. Subsequent provenances attested for in and around Pisa include Toscanelli 1933 (p. 369 note 2 ), Neppi-Modona 1953 (p, 30h and p. 42 k), Bruni 1993 (pp. 81-82), ASAT (p. 63), Tesei 1992 (p. 196), BTCGI XIII (pp. 597-598) and HN Italy (p. 30) only tentatively imply a Pisan provenance for the series. The design on this coin is impressive for its boldness and novelty, and at the same time highly enigmatic. Depicting an amphora on an elaborate (and probably weighted) stand intended to keep it upright when dropped from a boat into the sea, along with the top of the head of an octopus emerging from the opening with its tentacles splayed outwards on all sides, a quotidian fishing tool is transformed into a powerful sigil for the issuing authority. Along with the ubiquitous Gorgoneion, this type is emblematic of the Etruscan coinage series, though because of its extreme rarity few have ever seen one in hand and so it has for the most part been considered unobtainable by collectors and institutions alike. The elusive nature of the coin is matched by the obscurity of its significance; why the octopus motif occurs repeatedly on the coinage of Populonia is not known. It seems unlikely to be apotropaic in nature despite the qualities (some real, some imagined), attributed to octopodes by the ancients, since though it was known to be a dangerous, crafty and venomous animal, it was evidently also prized as a food source by the coastal Etruscans. The portrayal of the octopus in an amphora therefore suggests a usage similar to that of the crab of Akragas or the barley grain of Metapontum, which represented a prime local produce. As a powerful marine predator it is tempting to visualise a connection between the recurrent octopus theme and Etruscan naval prowess. Aside from their extensive maritime trade connections, the Etruscans were also renowned for possessing a formidable navy - something which only the richest states could afford to construct, equip and maintain. Indeed, Herodotus credits the Etruscans with the invention of the rostrum - the bronze beak affixed to the prow of warships to ram enemy vessels. Until the 5th century BC the Etruscans had effectively dominated the Tyrrhenian Sea, and at the Battle of Alalia were strong enough to form a combined fleet of 120 warships with the Carthaginians to resist Greek encroachment and piracy. The other principal types of the period - the Chimaera, the lion, the boar, and a marine lion-serpent monster - are clearly carefully chosen for their connotations of strength and intimidatory qualities. A simply mundane significance to this particular issue would therefore seem particularly incongruous. It thus seems highly likely that the ancient observer was intended to infer some deeper level of meaning from this motif, perhaps related to guile and ferocity in a marine context.
Lot 136
Bruttium, Rhegion AR Tetradrachm. Circa 435 BC. Facing lion’s head / Iocastus seated left on diphros, holding staff in right hand and resting left on back of seat, RECINON (retrograde) around, all within olive wreath border. HN Italy 2483; Herzfelder 42A. 17.32g, 30mm, 12h. Good Very Fine. Very Rare. Well centred obverse of good style, attractively highlighted with gold iridescent toning. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex Peter Guber Collection, Manhattan Sale II, 4 January 2011, lot 7; Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 33, 6 April 2006, lot 52. The lion on the obverse of Rhegion’s coinage is the sacred animal of Apollo, patron god of colonisation. The seated figure on the reverse has no distinctive attributes that aid identification, however current interpretations attribute him as being Iocastos, son of Aiolos, and who was king over much of the toe of Italy. That he died from the effects of a snake-bite we learn from Heraklides, a pupil of Plato: “Rhegion was founded by Chalkidians who had left Euripas on account of a pestilence; they were aided by Messenians, who settled down first near the grave of Iocastos, one of the sons of Aiolos, whom they say died from the bite of a snake.” The fact that his brothers Pheraimon and Agathurnos were commemorated on coins of Messana and Tyndaris renders it likely that Iocastos should likewise be made the subject of a type.
Lot 150
Sicily, Akragas AR Tetradrachm. Circa 460-446 BC. Sea eagle standing left on Ionic capital, AKRACANTOΣ around / Crab; spiralled tendril ornament with floral terminals below; all within shallow incuse circle. SNG ANS 982 var.; Lee Group II; cf. SNG Lockett 695 for same obverse die, 696 for reverse type but different die. 17.54g, 25mm, 6h. Fleur De Coin. Ex James Howard Collection, Roma Numismatics VIII, 28 September 2014, lot 56 (sold for £42,000 but not paid). Published in Roma Numismatics VII was the first of the Howard collection's two truly spectacular Akragas tetradrachms (lot 85), which bore an inverted dolphin as the reverse adjunct symbol. A comparison between these two exemplars of Akragantine coinage is extremely difficult, for both are of a quality that collectors have seldom, if ever, been offered the chance to acquire. Although this coin's reverse symbol may be considered somewhat less exotic than that of its above mentioned brother, the eagle's head is undeniably more detailed, and its plumage sharper - indicative of an overall slightly greater state of preservation. Indeed, the freshness of the metal and the lightly toned, satin finish are quite remarkable; this coin should certainly be considered to be amongst the very finest of its type.
Lot 18
Etruria, Populonia AR Didrachm of 10 Units (or Litrai?). Late 5th century BC. Head of Metus facing, hair bound with diadem, X below, dotted border / Blank. EC I, 8.10 (this coin); HN Italy 117; Sambon 35-56. 8.07g, 22mm. Extremely Fine, beautifully toned. Very Rare; exceptionally well struck, centred, and preserved for the type. One of the finest known. From the VCV Collection. The second coinage - the first silver Metus group and its fractions - is dated by hoard evidence to the late fifth century. The principal denominations are 10 ‘units’ (EC I, 7-8), close to the silver Attic didrachm or Corinthian stater, theoretically of 8.6g, and 5 ‘units’ (EC I, 9).
Lot 269
Attica, Athens AR Tetradrachm. Circa 500-490 BC. Archaic head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet decorated with chevron and dot pattern / Owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig behind, ΑΘΕ before. Cf. Svoronos Pl. 4, 15. 17.05g, 24mm, 4h. Extremely Fine. In particularly good condition for the issue, with a full crest; struck and preserved on sound and lustrous metal. Athens was one of the few Greek cities with significant silver deposits in their immediate territory, a remarkable stroke of fortune upon which Xenophon reflected: 'The Divine Bounty has bestowed upon us inexhaustible mines of silver, and advantages which we enjoy above all our neighbouring cities, who never yet could discover one vein of silver ore in all their dominions.' The mines at Laurion had been worked since the bronze age, but it would be only later in 483 that a massive new vein of ore would be discovered that enabled Athens to finance grand new schemes such as the construction of a fleet of 200 triremes, a fleet that would later prove decisive in defending Greece at the Battle of Salamis. This coin was produced in the period before the discovery of the new deposits at Laurion, around the time of the Ionian Revolt and the subsequent first Persian invasion of Greece. Athens aided the Ionian Greeks in their rebellion against Persian tyranny with both coin and soldiers, participating in the 498 BC march on Sardes which resulted in the capture and sack of that city – the only significant offensive action taken by the Ionians, who were pushed back onto the defensive and eventually subjugated once more. Vowing to punish Athens for their support of the doomed rebellion, the Persian king Darius launched an invasion of Greece, landing at Marathon in 490 BC. Just twenty five miles from Athens, a vastly outnumbered Athenian hoplite army inflicted a crushing defeat on the Persians, who after suffering horrendous casualties turned to their ships and fled.
Lot 28
Etruria, Populonia AR 20 Asses. 3rd century BC. Facing head of Metus, tongue protruding, hair bound with diadem, X:X below / Blank. EC I, 37 (O1); HN Italy 101. 6.20g, 19mm. Very Fine. From the VCV Collection. The second silver Metus group is the most extensive of all Etruscan groups and consists of consists of denominations similar to the first Metus group, but with value marks of exactly the double: 20, 10, 5, 2.5, 1 and possibly a half unit (series 37-111). The average weight of the 20 unit pieces clusters around 8.4 g, but enough examples weigh over 8.5 g to indicate that their theoretical intended weight may have been a stater of 8.6 grams, close to that of the Corinthian type staters current in southern Italy and Sicily in the early 3rd century. This denomination is divided by 20 units, presumably Roman libral cast asses, dominant throughout central Italy from the 280s BC, rendering a silver unit of about 0.43g, close to the standard of Rome's earliest 10-as denarii. Although similar in weight standard, they seem only to anticipate the Roman denarius of c. 211 BC, since the chronological evidence from both the Populonia (1939) and Ponte Gini (1986) finds point to a burial date of the first half of the 3rd century BC.
Lot 290
Macedon, Chalkidian League AR Tetradrachm. Olynthos, circa 382-379 BC. Laureate head of Apollo left / Kithara of seven strings, XAΛKIΔEΩN around; all within incuse square. Robinson & Clement Group H, A13/P13. 14.50g, 25mm, 6h. Good Extremely Fine. From the Ambrose Collection. The extensive 'Group H' coinage appears to have been produced in order to finance the Olynthian war effort against a Spartan campaign to subdue the city and dissolve the Chalkidian League in 382-379 BC. Amid continuous Illyrian invasions along the northern border of Macedon, in around 385 BC Amyntas III once more mortgaged certain territories, this time formally to the Chalkidian League. By 382 the League had absorbed most of the Greek cities west of the river Strymon, and unlike in 392, it was reluctant to return control of the Macedonian territories that Amyntas had transferred to its control, which included the capital at Pella. Amyntas now sought the aid of Sparta against the growing threat of the Chalkidian League; his disposition was shared by the cities of Akanthos and Apollonia, who anticipated imminent conquest by the League. Sparta, keen to reassert its presence in northern Greece, consented and a force of 10,000 was mobilised and dispatched against the League. An advance force of 2,000 under Eudamidas succeeded in separating Potidaea from the League; meanwhile the main force under Teleutias, brother of the Spartan king Agesilaos II, proceeded slowly, being augmented by allied contingents as it went. Teleutias thus arrived in Olynthian territory at the head of a substantial army and won an initial victory outside the city walls of Olynthos. In the spring of 381 however, Teleutias allowed himself to be drawn in too close to the walls, whereupon his forces came under missile fire and were routed with heavy losses by an Olynthian sortie, Teleutias himself being killed in the engagement. With the death of Teleutias, command passed to king Agesipolis I, who in 380 recommenced operations against the League, taking the city of Toroni in an assault. Agesipolis' success was short-lived however, as he was seized with fever and died within seven days. After three years of protracted but indecisive warfare, Olynthos consented to dissolve the Chalkidian League, though this dissolution appears to have been little more than a token formality, since in the following year the League appears among the members of the Athenian naval confederacy, and twenty years later Demosthenes reported the power of the League as being much greater than before the Spartan expedition. Olynthos itself is at this time spoken of as a city of the first rank, and the Chalkidian League then comprised thirty-two cities.
Lot 294
Kingdom of Macedon, Philip II AR Tetradrachm. Lifetime issue. Pella, circa 356–348 BC. Laureate head of Zeus to right / The king, wearing kausia and chlamys, raising his right hand in salute and riding a horse walking to the left; ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ around, Δ under horse's raised foreleg, star under belly. Le Rider 125 (D73/R99). 14.43g, 25mm, 5h. Good Extremely Fine. An exceptional example of the early coinage of Philip. From the Ambrose Collection; Ex W.B. and R.E. Montgomery Collection; Ex Classical Numismatic Group 66, 19 May 2004, lot 176; Ex Numismatik Lanz 54, 12 November 1990, lot 121. Philip, despite Athenian opposition to his participation in the Olympics on the grounds that he was a non-Greek, went on to become an Olympic victor three times in 356, 352 and 348 BC. On the first occasion, Plutarch reports that upon having conquered Potidaia Philip was informed that his horse had won its race, and that this day he also learned of the victory of his general Parmenion against the Illyrians, and that his wife Myrtale had given birth to a son, Alexander. In commemoration of his Olympic victory, Philip decreed that his wife should henceforth be known as Olympias, and he caused these coins to be struck, proudly displaying both he and his horse in victorious stance upon the reverse.
![Crete, Aptera AR Stater. Signed by Pythodoros. Circa 4th century BC. Α[ΠΤAΡΑΙΩΝ] around head of Artemis Aptera to right, with](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/fd0beea0-94bb-4568-87e5-a50800efba14/e51fd784-96a5-4bd5-e3a2-f95cc4c4a180/468x382.jpg)
Lot 379
Crete, Aptera AR Stater. Signed by Pythodoros. Circa 4th century BC. Α[ΠΤAΡΑΙΩΝ] around head of Artemis Aptera to right, with hair elaborately curled upwards around a stephane ornamented with palmettes; she wears an elaborate crescent and solar-disk pendant earring with three drops and a pearl necklace; to right in smaller letters the artist's signature: ΠΥΘΟΔΟΡΟΥ / Warrior hero Apteros, called Ptolioikos, standing facing, his bearded head left, wearing crested helmet and cuirass, holding in his left hand a spear and shield decorated with a sunburst, his right is raised towards a sacred fir tree in left field; ΠΤΟΛΙΟΙΚΟΣ around. Le Rider, Monnaies crétoises, p. 36, 269-70, pl. 9, 11-12; Svoronos, Crète, p. 15, pl. 1, 10 (same dies); BMC 1, pl. 2, 3 (same dies); BMFA Suppl. 108 (same dies); LIMC VII/1, p. 588, VII/2, sv. Ptolioikos 2 (same rev. die); for the engraver's signature see L. Forrer, Notes sur les signatures de graveurs sur les monnaies grecques, Bruxelles 1906, pp. 277-284. 11.41g, 14mm, 12. Good Very Fine. Extremely Rare. Of exceptionally fine style and quality, and very well preserved for the type, which is mostly found in lamentably poor condition. From a private American collection. The stunningly beautiful obverse female portrait is that of Artemis Aptera (or Aptara as inscribed on the coins, a local form of the Cretan Artemis Diktynna), the patron goddess of the city. Before her image in small characters proudly appears the name of the artist Pythodoros, a master die-engraver who also worked at Polyrherion on the equally beautifully styled female head which has been defined as that of Britomartis, 'sweet maiden' in the Cretan dialect. Also identified as Artemis Diktynna, Britomartis in Cretan myth was caught in a fisherman's net (diktyon) while trying to escape the advances of Poseidon, and was the subject of several Cretan coin types inspired by a statue then attributed to Daedalos, who was reputed to be the father of Cretan art (cf. Le Rider pp. 114-6, 3-6 pl. 28, 19-38; Svoronos 15-16, pl. 26, 4-5; Traité pl. 261, 25; BMC 1-2). Both images are very much influenced by the Sicilian school of die engraving as epitomised by the celebrated artists such as Kimon, Phrygillos, Eukleidas, Euainetos and Eumenes. The reverse type is of no less mythological and historic interest; the warrior in question is Apteros, called Ptolioikos, a title literally meaning 'dweller in the city'. He is shown saluting a tree, a scene which can be interpreted as a rendering of what must surely be a now lost myth concerning the oiktistes or founder of the city. The fine remains of the ancient polis of Aptera or Aptara (IACP 947), the modern Palaiokastro, are situated near the Minoan site of Megala Chorapia on the south side of Suda Bay, the safest anchorage in Crete throughout Greek, Venetian and Ottoman times, and which is today an important NATO naval base. Eusebius informs us that the city was founded by an eponymous hero, Apteros in the year 1503 BC (Chronicon 44c). The first historical mention of Aptera dates from the 7th century BC when a contingent of archers is reported to have fought along with Spartans in the war against Messene (Pausanius, Description of Greece IV 20, 8). Various attemps in antiquity were made to explain the city's name: notably, that it was the site of the song contest of the Muses and Sirens. In this story the latter lost their wings in a fight that ensued after their defeat (Stephen of Byzantium sv. Aptera; 'aptera' = 'wingless'). The city's name most likely derives from one of the epithets of Artemis, Aπτερα (cf. Inscriptionis Cretae 2), similar to that of the statue in the temple of Athena Nike on the Acropolis at Athens, which later took on the name of Nike Apteros, meaning 'wingless' Nike. From the fourth century BC Aptera produced coins on the Aiginetan weight standard, but by later Hellenistic times it gradually declined in favour of its powerful neighbour Kydonia and was finally absorbed by Rome in 67 BC.
Lot 387
Ionia, Ephesos (?) EL Stater. Circa 575-560 BC. Forepart of bridled horse left, sunburst before; lotus flower on its back / Rectangular incuse punch between two square incuse punches, all with roughly patterned surfaces. Weidauer 138 (these dies); Mitchiner 135; ACGC 56. 14.30g, 21mm. Extremely Fine. Very Rare. The lotus flower that appears upon the horse's back is an element common to several electrum staters from uncertain mints attributed to Lydia or Ionia, all struck on the Milesian standard: the recumbent lion type (Rosen 245; NAC 72, 16 May 2013, 369), bull kneeling with its head reverted (Rosen 148), and two rampant lions upright on their hind legs with heads reverted and paws extended (Rosen 149). On all of these coins the lotus flower may initially appear incidental, though its commonality to all types indicates otherwise – it is evidently to be seen as the key element of the obverse type that links the different animal designs together. The lotus flower appears only sporadically in Greek mythology, though it had a deep rooted use in Egyptian art and legend, where it was taken as a symbolic representation of the sun on account of its physical behaviour: it closes at night time and descends into the water, rising and flowering again at dawn. In Egyptian creation myth, the lotus was the first thing to spontaneously form from chaos, and it was from the lotus that the sun itself was born on the first day. The eastern coastal areas of the Mediterranean in the sixth century BC had been for a long time familiar with Egyptian religious beliefs that spread as a consequence of trade and population dispersal; the lotus' insinuation in its Egyptian meaning into Greek culture is evident in the lotus-tipped sceptre carried by Zeus on the coinages of Karia, Mysia and Kilikia (among others), being a legacy of the assimilation of an attribute of the major Egyptian solar deity Ra with the principal god of the Greek pantheon Zeus. The lotus' appearance here as a polyvalent symbol can best be understood then in the context of assimilated Egyptian beliefs, representing at once both a solar and divine aspect, as well as a clear allusion to the minting city's location. Interestingly however, the lotus is not the only solar element present on this coin – immediately before the horse's chest we can discern the presence of a sunburst similar in depiction to those found on the contemporary coinage of Alyattes. This element may have been included on account of its being more universally familiar, being well understood to signify what we now refer to as Anatolia, which comes from the Greek Aνατολή (Anatolē) meaning the 'East' or more literally 'sunrise', used to refer to the Ionian colonies on the west coast of Asia Minor. Moreover the horse was itself considered a solar symbol, not only throughout the East, but also among Celtic and Germanic tribes, suggesting a common ancient root to this association. Such preponderance of solar symbology is indeed only fitting for this metal, and is in fact an overt statement of the coin's composition: ἤλεκτρον, the Greek word for electrum, is derived from the word ἠλέκτωρ (ēlektōr) - 'shining sun'.
Lot 450
Lesbos, Mytilene EL Hekte. Circa 454-427 BC. Head of Athena wearing crested Corinthian helmet to right / Two confronted female heads, their faces overlapping; all within incuse square. Bodenstedt 55; HGC 6, 981; Boston MFA 1693; de Luynes 2555. 2.53g, 11mm, 1h. Near Mint State. Very Rare, Bodenstedt lists only 8 examples; CoinArchives records six, of which this is the finest by far. From the Kleines Meisterwerk Collection. This coin seems like a perfectly ordinary hekte when the obverse is first viewed; it is only when the coin is flipped to reveal its highly unusual reverse does the importance and novelty of the type become apparent. Employing a simple but effective form of optical illusion, the reverse appears to show the same female portrait both to the left and to the right. The design is deliberately intended to confound the eye and engage the viewer’s attention in attempting to resolve both portraits independently of the other, which is of course impossible, thus presenting the viewer with a visual paradox. The image works by confusing the brain’s figure-ground perceptual grouping process by giving it contradictory cues, thus preventing it from assigning definitive edges to the observed shapes. As a result, the human visual system will settle on one of the portraits, facing either left or right, and alternate between them. The importance of this type, both in terms of numismatic art and in the wider context of Greek art in general, cannot be understated. It is a thoroughly novel, and never to be repeated experiment in paradoxical illusion on the coinage of a Greek city-state. The Greeks were certainly familiar with the concept of a visual paradox - Plato describes the ourobouros ‘tail-devouring snake’ as the first living thing; a self-eating, circular being: the universe as an immortal, mythologically constructed entity. They were also aware of the power of illusions - Greek architects would apply a technique known as entasis in the construction of their temple columns. Columns formed with straight sides would appear to the observer to have an attenuated appearance, and their outlines would seem concave rather than straight. Therefore a slight convex curve would be built into the shaft of the column, resulting in a swelling in the middle parts, in order to correct this disagreeable trick of the eye. Why then, when they were clearly aware of the power of illusion and paradox, did Greek artists not employ such techniques? The answer most likely lies in the cultural shift away from the static representational art of the archaic period driven by new realistic and idealistic paradigms; artists now sought to demonstrate their skill through attempting to attain aesthetic perfection based on both observational study, and occasionally improvement of nature through idealisation of the subject’s features. Thus non-practical forms of optical illusion were most likely dismissed as curious, but unlikely to earn an artist everlasting fame. It was therefore left to relatively modern artists such as Oscar Reutersvärd, who created the Penrose Stairs (also dubbed the impossible staircase), and psychologists such as Edgar Rubin, who developed the familiar Rubin’s vase (sometimes known as the Rubin face or the figure–ground vase), to explore the visual and psychological implications of these images which trick the brain. The significance of this coin therefore is that it predates the work of both of the aforementioned celebrated ‘illusionists’ by well over two milennia, and demonstrates an appreciation and understanding of optical illusions as an art form, not just a necessary practical expedience.
Lot 490
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Europa, hair tied up in bun and wearing short-sleeved garment, seated on the back of Zeus in the form of a white bull who charges to left, her right hand holding on to a horn, the left resting on his rump; below, tunny fish to left / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 108, pl. III, 27; Boston MFA 1477; SNG France 250. 16.07g, 19mm. Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare. This issue appears to have been fairly uniformly struck on flans that were just a little too short - both the von Fritze and Boston specimens are missing the top part of Europa's head. The design is nevertheless charming and well executed, at least insofar as the die engraving is concerned. The reverse design of this coin is almost identical to one featured on a unique tetradrachm of Abdera (Roma IV, lot 242), which shows Europa in the same pose on the back of the bull. Both follow a well established artistic and literary tradition that can be traced back as far as the 8th century BC, according to Herodotus’ dating of Homer, though the myth itself is certainly much older than its earliest known literary appearance (in the Iliad), and its earliest securely dateable visual appearance, which is not seen until the mid-7th century BC. We find the same treatment of the scene in Ovid’s Metamorphoses many centuries later: “And gradually she lost her fear, and he offered his breast for her virgin caresses, his horns for her to wind with chains of flowers until the princess dared to mount his back, her pet bull’s back, unwitting whom she rode. Then - slowly, slowly down the broad, dry beach - first in the shallow waves the great god set his spurious hooves, then sauntered further out ‘til in the open sea he bore his prize. Fear filled her heart as, gazing back, she saw the fast receding sands. Her right hand grasped a horn, the other lent upon his back; her fluttering tunic floated in the breeze.”
Lot 493
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Circa 500-450 BC. Double-bodied winged sphinx standing with head facing atop tunny fish to right, wearing ouraios, hair falling in plaited locks behind / Quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze -, cf. 128 (hekte); Greenwell -, cf. 101 (hekte); SNG France -, cf. 280 (hekte); CNG inventory 925160; Roma VIII, lot 631. 16.16g, 20mm. Near Extremely Fine. Of the highest rarity, only the third known specimen. The sphinx as a type recurs frequently on the coinage of Kyzikos and new types are still being discovered today, yet the double-bodied sphinx is certainly the most curious depiction of this mythological monster, and the reason for it being so is not easy to divine. Greenwell (p. 102), who was citing Cousinéry, proposed that it was simply an artistic device for showing the sphinx as seated facing, 'arising from the difficulty of depicting a figure in that position'. This proposition appears plausible, until one considers that double-bodied owls are also engraved on coins at various cities including Athens, where they certainly had no problem with engraving a front-facing owl. More damning still for this simplistic view, the double-bodied sphinx appears also in statuary where again there is no logical reason to sculpt it so unless it possesses some significance - see in particular the limestone Tarentine column capital of the Corinthian order at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, and also the marble gravestone decorated with a loutrophoros supported by a double-bodied sphinx at the British Museum (both 4th century). The concept of double-bodied monsters was an ancient one, and probably originated in ancient Sumeria, as they are seen on cylinder seals from this culture, and are repeated later on ancient Iranian goldwork. Here, the double-bodied monsters probably signified a dualistic nature that is easily adaptable and can be one thing or another, or a span between two distinct yet connected elements such as sunrise and sunset. Tom Rasmussen (Corinth and the Orientalising Phenomenon) proposes that the artistic portrayal of the sphinx as a double-bodied monster was first devised at Corinth, where it can be found on a Protocorinthian olpe vase, circa 640 BC, known as the Chigi olpe which is now in the Villa Giulia in Rome. This was likely the product of a blending of Greek and Eastern imagery, yet the result is wholly original; indeed Rasmussen points out that 'Greek Orientalising is rarely straight copying of Oriental'. It has often been suggested that the electrum staters of Kyzikos take their types from a wide range of artistic sources across a broad geographical range, as might be expected for a city-state that relied almost entirely for its prosperity on being a commerce hub where east and west would meet and exchange wares and ideas. Whether or not Corinth was the origin of the double-bodied Sphinx, it is not surprising that such an intriguing motif should be adopted at Kyzikos.
Lot 501
Mysia, Kyzikos EL Stater. Mid 4th century BC. Large race horse rearing up to right, ridden by Phillip II of Macedon, bearded, wearing kausia, diadem and chlamys; tunny fish to right below / Speckled quadripartite incuse square. Von Fritze 168, pl. 5, 16; Greenwell -; SNG France 315; Boston MFA Supp. 151; Lanz 157, lot 137. 16.00g, 19mm. Near Mint State. A splendid coin, bright and sharply struck. Extremely Rare, and by far the finest known of very few examples. The early Milesian foundation of Kyzikos on the isthmus of the Arktouros peninsula, protruding from the south-west coast of the Propontis, was ideally sited for its role as commercial intermediary par excellence at the centre of east-west trade. The earliest electrum coinage of Kyzikos with its characteristic ‘tunny fish’ emblem dates from about 550, and was based on the Phokaic weight standard of about 16.1g, the equivalent value to a Persian gold daric of 8.4g. They were contemporarily called Kyzikenes and the distribution of hoard finds makes it clear that it was the acceptable currency for trade between Thrace and the northern coasts of the Black Sea, and from Athens to Ionia, so much so that Kyzikenes are mentioned in Athenian inventories (cf. ACGC p. 261-2). This electrum coinage bears a wide variety of types, many of which are mythological or historical and types copied from contemporary Greek poleis from Magna Graecia to the Levant. Before one can identify the obverse type of this splendid Kyzikene, it is important to first secure a date for the issue. The celebrated Prinkipo Hoard of over 200 Kyzikenes, 16 Pantikapaion and 4 Lampsakos gold staters (IGCH 1239; Regling ZfN 1931, pp. 1-46) places the burial date to about 335-4 BC, a chronology followed by most modern studies (see Hurter and Liewald SNR 81, 83 and 85). Even if in 1974 the Philip II gold staters were discovered to be a separate hoard (AJA 1974, 308; CH 2, 1976, 41), this low chronology is confirmed by the presence of three specific copied types: the Alexander the Great young Herakles head type derived from his imperial tetradrachms (von Fritze 194; ACGC 964); a young jockey with raised hand on horse derived from Philip II’s later tetradrachms (von Fritze 214; SNG France 344); the present type with a bearded figure wearing kausia and chlamys riding a horse derived from Philip II’s early tetradrachms which celebrate his victory at the Olympic Games in 356 (cf. Le Rider p. 5, 1; Kraay-Hirmer 562), the same year that Alexander was born. Added to these examples are the Philip II bearded portraits types identified by M. R. Kaiser-Raiss (SNR 63, 1983, Philip II. Und Kyzikos, pp. 27-53; von Fritze 197 and 199). Together these types paint a picture of the last issues of Kyzikene electrum, deriving their types directly from the coinage of the liberating Greek forces led by Alexander. The suggestion that the reverse figure should be identified as Kyzikos, the eponymous founder of the city who was accidentally killed by the Argonauts, lacks any credible supporting arguments, and falls down when the dating of the issue is taken into consideration. With no identifying features besides a kausia, it would be highly illogical to suppose that such an issue, struck at this late period, would represent the mythical founder of the city. Given the evidence presented by the Prinkipo Hoard, and the clear stylistic similarities, an identification of the rider as Philip II of Macedon seems secure.
Lot 507
Kingdom of Pergamon, Philetairos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 270-265 BC. Diademed head of the deified Seleukos I to right / Athena, helmeted and wearing long robes, seated to left on low throne with lion's feet, resting her left elbow on support in the form of a sphinx, holding a transverse downward pointing spear in her left hand and resting her right on the edge of a round shield adorned with a gorgoneion standing before her; above, ivy leaf; to right, bow; AΘ monogram on throne. SC 309.5b; SNG France 1601 (same obv. die); Hunt 104 = Hunt Sale I 105; Leu 81, lot 256 (same obv. die). 17.03g, 29mm, 12h. Near Extremely Fine. Attractively toned, light scratch on reverse. Philetairos began his career serving under Antigonos Monophthalmos, but after the Battle of Ipsos in 301 BC where Antigonos was killed, he shifted his allegiance to Lysimachos, who entrusted him with command of the fortress of Pergamon, and a treasury of nine thousand talents of silver (234 metric tonnes). Philetairos served Lysimachos until 282 BC, when perhaps because of conflicts involving the court intrigues of Arsinoe, Lysimachos’ third wife, Philetairos deserted Lysimachos, offering himself and the important fortress of Pergamon, along with its treasury to Seleukos, who subsequently defeated and killed Lysimachos at the Battle of Korupedion in 281 BC. Seleukos himself was murdered by Ptolemy Keraunos, a brother of Arsinoe, a few months later at Lysimacheia. After the death of Seleukos, though he and Pergamon remained nominally under Seleukid dominion, Philetairos had considerable autonomy and with the help of his considerable wealth was able to increase his power and influence beyond Pergamon. His first coinage was struck under the reign of Antiochos I, the son of Seleukos, and though it proclaims his loyalty to Seleukos, the presence of his name upon the reverse must have inevitably raised suspicions about his ambitions. Nevertheless, Philetairos never went so far as to proclaim himself king, and remained loyal to the Seleukids until his death in 263. Having no children of his own, Philetairos passed the rule of Pergamon to his nephew Eumenes, who almost immediately revolted against Antiochos, defeating the Seleukid king near Sardes in 261. Euemenes was thus able to free Pergamon, and greatly increased the territory under his control. In his new possessions, he established garrison posts in the north at the foot of Mount Ida called Philetaireia after his adoptive father, and in the east, northeast of Thyatira near the sources of the river Lykos, called Attaleia after his grandfather, and he extended his control south of the river Caïcus to the Gulf of Kyme as well. Demonstrating his independence, he began to strike coins as his predecessor had done, only now the obverse portrait was that of his uncle and adoptive father Philetairos.
Lot 511
Kingdom of Lydia, Kroisos AV Stater. Sardes, circa 564/53-550/39 BC. Light standard. mint. Confronted foreparts of lion and bull / Two incuse squares. Berk 3; Traité I 401–3; SNG von Aulock 2875; SNG Lockett 2983 = Pozzi 2726; Athena Fund I 60; BMC 31; Boston MFA 2073; Gulbenkian 757; Zhuyuetang 11. 8.08g, 16mm. Fleur De Coin. Superbly lustrous, exceptionally rare in such quality. Kroisos is credited with issuing the first true gold coins with a standardised purity for general circulation. His kingdom represented the last bastion against Persian expansion westwards into Greek lands; encouraged by a prediction of the Delphic Oracle that if he attacked Persia he would destroy a great empire, Kroisos made his preparations for war with Cyrus the Great. The war resulted in defeat for Kroisos; his numerically superior army was smashed, and the capital Sardes was captured along with Kroisos and his family, who were immolated on the orders of Cyrus. Lydia became a satrapy of the Persian Empire, though it continued to mint coins in the traditional types, and indeed the legendary wealth of Kroisos was used by Cyrus to form the basis of a new Persian gold standard currency.
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