Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 1427. Estimate CHF350.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF2000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ELIMIOTIS, Aiani. Derdas II. Circa 380 BC. Chalkous (Bronze, 14 mm, 3.17 g 10). Head of the youthful Herakles to right, wearing lionskin headdress. Rev. ΔΕΡΔΑ Club and spear point. K. Liampi, The Coinage of King Derdas and the history of the Elimiote Dynasty, Essays Hersh, pp. 5-11, 18a and pl. 2, 18a (this coin). Unique. Well struck and with a brown patina. Nearly extremely fine.

This coin is actually not properly Thessalian, but since it is from an adjacent area, and was said to have been found in Thessaly, it was decided to include it here! Inhoof-Blumer, in his article “Syrakosai - Lysimachos - Derdas”, Corolla Numismatica, Numismatic Essays in Honour of Barclay V. Head (London, 1906), pp. 160-165, was the first to publish a coin of Derdas, but even 100 years later almost nothing is known of him. We do not even know whether the issuer of this coin was actually the second ruler of this name as he is usually considered to be. Liampi assumes, undoubtedly rightly, that this coin was the last of his issues: it was the only example of the type known to her.