294, Lot: 277. Estimate $500. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of MACEDON. Demetrios I Poliorketes. 306-283 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 17.08 g, 6h). In the name and types of Alexander III. Tyre mint. Struck circa 290-286 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monograms in left field and below throne. Price 3534; Hersh, Tyrus 17a-c (obv. die VI). Near EF, small flan flaw and slight doubling at top of obverse, a hint of obverse die wear.

Ex Goldberg 67 (31 January 2012), lot 3132; Superior (3 June 1997), lot 5052.

This coin was struck from a very fresh reverse die. The fields have faint lines throughout that are indicative of the die being polished just prior to use. Perhaps most interesting is the presence of faint curved lines radiating in the form of a wreath around the edge of the outer circle of the monogram in the left field. This feature has not been noticed before, and their very shallow engraving would certainly make them very difficult to see once the die had been used to some extent.