Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 1327. Estimate CHF275.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

THESSALY, Proerna. Circa 306-283 BC. Tetrachalkon (Bronze, 23mm, 7.22 g 6). Head of a nymph facing, turned slightly to the right, wearing a necklace of pearls and with her hair in wild disorder. Rev. ΠΡΩΕΡ / ΝΙΩΝ Demeter standing facing, wearing grain wreath and long robes, and holding a long torch with her left hand and grain ears in her right; to left, monogram of ΦΙ. Rogers -. SNG Copenhagen 248. Very rare, with a superb nymph’s head, conceived in a most original fashion. Dark, greenish-red patina. Very fine.

In many ways the obverse of this coin bears one of the finest nymph’s heads in Thessalian coinage. She is certainly not the serene goddess one finds at Larissa and elsewhere: they may have an emotional strength as well, but this nymph from Proerna has an intensity that is nothing short of astounding. It just goes to show that even a small and minor city could commission work from a great artist.
A note from BCD: This and the next coin are much scarcer than the standard middle-sized bronze of Proerna.