EPHESUS ELECTRUM 1/24 STATER – VERY EARLY ISSUE OF PHANES WITH STAG FOREPART – CHOICE VF NGC GRADED GREEK IONIA COIN (Inv. 19904)

$3,750.00

19904. IONIA. EPHESUS. PHANES, ca. 625–600 BC.
Electrum 1/24 Stater, 0.58 g, 7 mm.
Obv. Forepart of stag right, head turned to left. Rev. Incuse with linear designs.
Cf. Weidauer 36–37 (1/12 stater); SNG von Aulock 7773; Linzalone LN1105.
NGC graded CHOICE VF, Strike 4/5, Surface 4/5.

A historical coin, this piece is a smaller denomination belonging to the series issued by Phanes, an individual otherwise unknown in the historical record. The stater and trite are signed with Phanes’ name and are the very first coins to bear a legend and a personal name. The lower denominations, such as this piece, feature variations on the famous stag emblem that is identified as the “badge” of Phanes on stater. A Phanes hemihecte from this series was found at the Artemision of Ephesus in a late 7th century archaeological context – see White Gold, no. 28, pp. 98, 128–130, making these among the very first coins ever struck.