LYSIMACHUS SILVER TETRADRACHM – UNIQUE VARIETY FROM A PROPONTIS MINT WITH “FLOATING” LION DECORATION ON SHIELD – CHOICE XF FINE STYLE NGC GRADED GREEK KINGDOM OF THRACE COIN (inv. 18880)

$4,800.00

18880. KINGDOM OF THRACE. LYSIMACHUS, 305–281 BC.
Silver Tetradrachm, 16.84 g, 33 mm. Late lifetime or early posthumous issue of a mint near the Propontis, ca. 285–270 BC.
Obv. Head of deified Alexander the Great right, with the horn of Ammon. Rev. ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑXΟΥ, Athena enthroned left, holding Nike crowning Lysimachus’ name, caduceus in inner left field, ΘΞΟΡΚ control monogram in exergue, “floating” lion head emblem on shield.
Thompson –; Marinescu 1996 –; Müller –.
NGC graded CHOICE XF, Strike 3/5, Surface 4/5, FINE STYLE, “overstruck,” and seemingly unique.

This seems to be a variety from a “mystery” mint, documented only by this coin. The caduceus symbol is well known on the coinage of Lysimachus and was often used by the city of Amphipolis. However, the style and appearance of this coin is inconsistent with products from that mint. Rather, it resembles the style often encountered at cities near the Propontis (the area before the Bosporus straits) such as Ainos. The obverse die is known from several examples in the market, and although these bear a caduceus in left field, they have a different control in the exergue (especially an oE monogram). This coin, however, has two very novel features. One is the very complicated control monogram in the exergue which is composed of several letters and is otherwise unattested. Second, is the handling of Athena’s shield boss where the customary lion head is shown “floating” within the oval area rather than projecting out from the surface as befitting a central emblem in relief. This type of lion head is also seen on one of the aforementioned oE varieties (CNG 114, lot 101), but not all. It is also a trademark of certain Lysimachi traditionally placed at Pella, but more recently reattributed to Byzantium (Marinescu, “Byzantium’s Early Coinage in the Name of King Lysimachus: Problems and New Attributions” in Proceedings of the First International Congress of the Anatolian Monetary History and Numismatics, pp. 386–387). Marinescu notes several varieties with this type of lion head, which he calls an “applique lion” since it has that general appearance. On this coin the treatment is the same, and one of the few other instances where the shield boss is rendered in such an imaginative way.