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A fine early Histiaia tetrobol, with an unexpected obverse die

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Pharsalos:
Here is a pretty tetrobol I purchased last year:

AR Tetrobol
Size: 15mm Weight: 2.68 grams Die axis: 12h

Histiaia, Euboea
Mid 4th century BCE

Obverse: Head of the nymph Histiaia right, hair bound in decorative sakkos, wearing wreath with grape bunches, single-drop pendant earring, and pearl necklace.

Reverse: The nymph Histiaia seated right on the stern of galley, her left arm placed around stylis to right; galley decorated with wing, grape bunch to left; IΣTIAI-EΩN around.

Ex EJW Ltd eAuction 34 (20 June 2001), lot 49

Thanks to fellow Forvm members in this thread (https://www.forumancientcoins.com/board/index.php?topic=127804.msg768772;topicseen#msg768772), I was able to get some images of other coins with the same reference ‘Gulbenkian 510’. The first is the Gulbenkian coin, the second a BCD coin, and the third is from Naville X 1925.

There are differences in the reverse die of my coin compared to the others, but I think this could be explained by reverse die wear/breaks and photo lighting so I am inclined to think the reverses do match.

Although very similar, in my eyes my coin is not an obverse die match to the other coins.  The main differences I see are the grapes in the hair, the lower and upper seams of the sakkos, the upper part of the drop earring, the necklace position and some loose hair placements. A possibility I think is that that the original obverse die was reworked as the dies wore down. I would be interested to know the thoughts of other Forvm members, and ofcourse if you know of any other images I am missing.

Steve Moulding:
The reverse die feels different to me. Look at the shoulder on the left, for example. It looks more hunched in your coin. The top shoulder line is closer to being parallel to the lines of the galley and when extended left intersects the lettering at a different place. Beautiful coin!

Steve

Joe Sermarini:
Maybe the same hand.

Kevin D:
The lower part of the stylis where it meets the upper part, is quite different on your coin compared to the other three. I don't see this as being due to strike or die wear. I think different dies (both obverse and reverse).

Mark Fox:
Dear Pharsalos, Steve, Joe, Kevin, and Board,

Also, for what it is worth, the Gulbenkian coin and the specimen in Naville X 1925 appear to be one and the same coin.  Keep in mind that the latter picture shows a plaster cast.  Such a medium can mask or create differences, but if one looks closely, I think they will also note faint suggestions of the same imperfections as seen on the actual coin.

Hope this helps.


Best regards,

Mark Fox
Michigan     

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