394, Lot: 257. Estimate $200. Sold for $425. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LESBOS, Mytilene. Circa 377-326 BC. EL Hekte – Sixth Stater (9.5mm, 2.54 g, 11h). Laureate head of Apollo (Dionysos?) right / Head of female right, drapery at neck, within linear square. Bodenstedt Em. 95; HGC 6, 1021 (obv. head described as Dionysos). VF, lightly toned.

Ex Roma E-Sale 14 (27 December 2014), lot 140.

This is one of the few coins of this type that we have handled where the obverse portrait may actually be Dionysos, as there is what looks like a pinecone at the top of the laurel wreath. Normally, Dionysos would be wreathed with ivy leaves, but the wreath on this coin, and this type, usually looks more like laurel leaves. It is possible that this type is either an engraver’s error, or was meant to be a distinct issue different from the Apollo obverse type.