ATTALUS I SILVER TETRADRACHM – VERY RARE WESTERMARK VI:B ISSUE WITH STAR SYMBOL – AU GREEK PERGAMENE KINGDOM COIN (Inv. 21459)

$2,750.00

21459. PERGAMENE KINGDOM. ATTALUS I, ca. 205–197 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm, 16.81 g, 29 mm. Issue of Westermark Group VI:B.
Obv. Laureate head of Philetairus right. Rev. ΦΙΛETAIPOY, Athena enthroned left, crowning royal name, shield behind throne, star in outer left field, AI left field, bow in right field.
HGC 8.1, 797; Westermark, Das Bildnis des Philetairos von Pergamon, Group VI:B, p. 70, obverse V.CXXVI with an unlisted reverse die; CNG Electronic Auction 244, 11/10/2010, lot 162 (same obverse die).
NGC AU, Strike 5/5, Surface 3/5, extremely rare variety with only one other specimen in market records.
This issue was struck in the period of the Cretan War (205–201 BC), when the king was allied with the Rhodians against Philip V and his Cretan pirate allies, and the Second Macedonian War (200–196 BC), when the king cemented his friendly relationship with the Romans and provided ships and men to finally defeat Philip V once and for all.