Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 1274. Estimate CHF225.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF3400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Pharkadon. Late 5th - early 4th century BC. Obol (Silver, 0.81 g 6). Horse walking to right. Rev. ΦΑΡΚ Herakles standing right, nude but for lionskin wrapped over his left arm, holding bow in his left hand and resting his right on club with its head on the ground; all within shallow incuse square. Apparently unpublished. Slightly corroded, but of very fine style and with a beautifully made reverse. Good very fine.

The Herakles figure on the reverse of this small coin is masterfully done and beautifully engraved. While it would seem that the later silver fractions of Pharkadon are much rarer than the earlier ones, the engravers who made them were artists of great talent; thus, it is possible that these issues were made as donatives in small numbers.