Portrait of King Midas

Sale: Triton XI, Lot: 240. Estimate $500.  Closing Date: Monday, 7 January 2008.  Sold For $3750. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. EL Hekte (2.21 g). Head of King Midas left; to right, seal downward / Quadripartite incuse square. Bodenstedt Em. 66 (dies -/a); SNG Copenhagen 1025 (same rev. punch); SNG von Aulock -; BMC 31. VF. Extremely rare, only five examples cited by Bodenstedt, three of which are in museums.

This issue of Phokaia is the only Greek (non-Imperial) coin to bear the portrait of the famous King Midas of Phrygia.