Rare Aitolian League Tetradrachm

265, Lot: 116. Estimate $300. Sold for $850. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

AITOLIA, Aitolian League. Circa 239-229 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 15.85 g, 1h). Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Aitolos seated right on a Macedonian shield which rests on a pile of three Gallic shields, which rest on Gallic karnyx, holding spear and sword; monogram above ΣE to right. Cf. Tsangari 493 (D8, but recut/R31; recutting of obv. die not recorded); BCD Akarnania 431 (same dies, but obv. not recut). Near VF, scratches. Rare.

This coin is one of the earliest issues of the Aitolian League. The reverse of this tetradrachm shows Aitolia seated on a pile of shields, an allusion to one of the sculptures dedicated in the temple of Apollo at Delphi to commemorate the repulse of the Gallic invasion of 279 BC. The Macedonian shield upon which Aitolos sits might be an allusion to an Aitolian victory over the Macedonians in 314 BC.