| Oslo Myntgalleri AS > Auction 37 | Auction date: 25 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 1615 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: IONIA, Ephesus (as Arsinoeia). Circa 290-281 BC. Æ (12 mm; 1,85 g). Aristgoras, magistrate. Veiled and draped bust of Arsinoë II right / ΑΡ-ΣΙ AΡIΣTAΓOΡAΣ, Forepart of stag kneeling right, head left, astragalos above. Well struck and with a shiny black patina. Rare., Imhoof-Blumer KM 15, Grade: 1+, From the inventory of a Swedish dealer Starting price: 1000 NOK |  |
Match 1:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Electronic Auction 560 | Auction date: 17 April 2024 |
| Lot number: 111 Price realized: 700 USD (Approx. 658 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: IONIA, Ephesos (as Arsinoeia). Circa 290-281 BC. AR Oktobol (18mm, 5.52 g, 4h). Theophil(os), magistrate. Veiled and draped bust of Arsinoë right / Bow and quiver; monogram above, bee to lower right. Svoronos 879; SNG Kayhan 279 var. (magistrate). Toned, some find patina and pitting. VF. Rare. Estimate: 300 USD |  |
Match 2:
| Nomos AG > Auction 32 | Auction date: 8 June 2024 |
| Lot number: 126 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: The Anthony Milavic Collection of Ancient Games Coins Athletics Boxing: Boxers IONIA. Ephesus. Salonina, Augusta, 254-268. (Bronze, 29 mm, 8.12 g, 6 h). CAΛΩN XPYCOΓONH CEBA Diademed and draped bust of Salonina to right, set on a crescent. Rev. TO AΓAΘON EΦECIΩN Male figure, nude but for a wreath around his head and perhaps a boxer, standing to right, his arms hanging down at his side with his fists clenched. BMC 399. Lindgren III 366. RPC X Online, 61114. Well-centered and with earthen deposits over a dark green patina. Good fine. From the collection of Major Anthony F. Milavic, USMC (Ret.), ex Classical Numismatic Group 35, 20 September 1995, 1160. Although the figure on the reverse of this coin seems to depict a boxer with balled fists and wearing caesti, the hairstyle and stiffness of his pose has led the author of RPC X, and others, to suggest that it is an archaic kouros statue of Apollo (the same figure also appears at Kolophon during the reign of Trajan Decius - RPC IX, 588 & 591). Is that correct?The curious reverse inscription, which translates as the good (in the sense of virtue) of the Ephesians, makes one wonder. And why should Apollo be clenching his fists? Starting price: 225 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Classical Numismatic Group > Triton XXVII | Auction date: 9 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 173 Price realized: 7,500 USD (Approx. 6,869 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: AKARNANIA, Federal Coinage (Akarnanian Confederacy). Circa 250-200 BC. AR Stater (27mm, 9.90 g, 3h). Leukas mint; Lykourgas, magistrate. Head of river god Achelöos right; [ΛY]KOYPΓOΣ upward to left / Apollo Aktios, nude, holding bow in extended right hand, seated left; monogram to left, AKAPNANΩN to right. Imhoof-Blumer, Akarnaniens 23; BCD Akarnania 18 (same dies); HGC 4, 721. Attractive cabinet tone, minor die wear as usual, graffiti on reverse. Near EF. Perfectly centered. Powerful head of Achelöos. Ex New York Sale XX (7 January 2009), lot 30; Waddell 79 (2003), lot 32; Numismatic Fine Arts Winter MBS (15 January 1982), lot 163. Founded in the fifth century BC, the Akarnanian Confederacy was composed from time to time of a varying number of the local towns. In 438 BC, the Confederacy allied itself with Athens, providing it with support during the Peloponnesian War, while at the same time expanding its own control in the region. During this period the Confederacy began to issue coinage, which, like the coins of many of the other Greek confederacies, were struck in the city-states of its leading members. The obverse of this federal coinage depicts the head of the river-god Achelöos, the eponymous patron of the river which formed the natural boundary between Akarnania and Aitolia. The reverse may depict Apollo Aktiakos, whose temple was located on the promontory overlooking the Gulf of Ambrakia and which may have served as the meeting place of the confederacy's members. During the fourth century BC, the Confederacy shifted its alliances between Sparta and Athens as they struggled to control Greece. By the latter part of the century, however, the Akarnanian Confederacy was allied with Macedon. In 314 BC, it sided with Kassander in the Diadoch Wars. Periodic border conflicts with the Aitolians resulted in the loss of Akarnanian border territories and, although an agreement was reached in 263/2 BC, by 250 BC, at about the same time this quarter stater was minted, the Akarnanian Confederacy was divided between the Aitolians and the Molossians in Epeiros. In 230 BC the Akarnanian Confederacy enjoyed a brief revival, but after the Battle of Pydna in 168 BC, information about it disappears from the historical record. Estimate: 3000 USD |  |
Match 4:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Web Auction 28 | Auction date: 9 December 2023 |
| Lot number: 5505 Price realized: 260 CHF (Approx. 296 USD / 274 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Nezana/Nezool, circa 480s-500. Chrysos (Electrum, 19 mm, 1.59 g, 12 h). ΘCΟΥ ЄΥΧΛΡΙCΤΙΛ Draped half-length bust of Nezana/Nezool to right, wearing tiara and circular earring, holding spear in his right hand and with bracelets on his right arm; to left and right, ears of barley; above, cross. Rev. ΒΛCIΛ-ЄΥC NCZΟⲰΛ Draped half-length bust of Nezana/Nezool to right, wearing tight-fitting head cloth and circular earring, holding branch in his right hand and with bracelets on his right arm; to left and right, ears of barley; above, cross. Hahn, Aksumite, 38d. Hahn & Keck, MAKS, 54.76 (this coin). Munro-Hay, AC, type 82. Minor flan faults, otherwise, nearly very fine. From the Dr. Stephan Coffman Collection, ex Classical Numismatic Group E-Auction 448, 17 July 2019, 581 and Classical Numismatic Group E-Auction 438, 20 February 2019, 620. Nezana/Nezool's coinage rather curiously employs two names for the same king. While a coregency is not impossible, more likely is that we are dealing with two names for the same king, based on argyroi carrying Nezana's name in Greek on the obverse coupled with a monogram of Nezool in Ge'ez over the king's head, strongly implying that both refer to the same figure. Turning back to the gold coinage, perhaps one die cutter continued the naming convention of Ebana, while the other opted to render the king's name as it was actually pronounced. Nezana/Nezool eventually replaced the previous 'King of the Land of the Abyssinians' title with the Christian message 'ΘЄΟΥ ЄΥΧAΡΙCΤΙA'. This could either be interpreted as the gratitude of mankind towards God, or as Hahn & Keck (MAKS, p. 106) argue, the benevolence of God towards mankind. The latter interpretation is supported epigraphically and fits well with the rare silver issues of Nezana/Nezool mentioned earlier with the legend 'ΘЄΟΥ XAPI(C)', i.e., 'The grace of God', from which the benevolence mentioned on the gold coins flows forth. Ironically, a crescent is also depicted, formerly used as a pagan symbol on the Axumite coinage, but likely devoid of such meaning by this time While little is known of Nezana/Nezool's reign, the chronicle of the Roman author, Marcellinus Comes, mentions that in 496, Anastasius received an elephant and two giraffes as a gift 'from India'. Of course, giraffes did not naturally occur in India in historical times, and the passage more likely refers to an African, perhaps Axumite, present instead. Rather than Marcellinus being misinformed, however, the broad use of the term 'India' for remote 'overseas' (from the perspective of Mediterranean seafarers) lands to the far south and east was not uncommon, much like 'Libya' could refer to all kinds of regions in Africa, not least to the continent as a whole. Starting price: 75 CHF |  |
Match 5:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > E-Sale 114 | Auction date: 23 November 2023 |
| Lot number: 303 Price realized: 80 GBP (Approx. 100 USD / 92 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ionia, Ephesos (as Arsinoeia) Æ 16mm. Circa 288-281 BC. Krateros, magistrate. Veiled head of Arsinoe II to right / Stag recumbent to left, head to right; ΑΡ-ΣΙ across fields, [KP]ATEP[OΣ], astragalos to right. Imhoof KM p. 50, 16; SNG Copenhagen 258. 4.12g, 16mm, 12h. Very Fine. Estimate: 40 GBP |  |
