304, Lot: 35. Estimate $300. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of THRACE, Macedonian. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AR Tetradrachm (32mm, 16.00 g, 10h). Alexandreia Troas mint(?). Struck circa 297/6-282/1 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, spear behind; grape bunch to outer left, ΔI in exergue. Unpublished, but cf. Leu 18, 105 (same obv. die, ΔI in exergue, AP monogram in inner left field). VF, lightly toned, hairline flan crack, areas of roughness. Very rare issue.

This coin belongs to a compact series that all have the ΔI control mark and share the same obverse die. In addition to the Leu piece, Kölner Münzkabinett 16, lot 81a = Bayerische Vereinsbank FPL 12, no. 51 has the grape bunch to the outer left, ΔI to inner left, and AP monogram in exergue. Three other pieces have the grape bunch and AP monogram in the inner left field and ΔI in the exergue (one is in Sofia, the other two were seen in trade, but have photos in the ANS photofile). While the ANS photos of these pieces were filed under Maroneia mint, this is unlikely. Whoever organized the cards apparently used the grape bunch as the mint mark, but was not aware of the Leu 18 coin, which lacks the device. It is most likely that this is a new group from the prolific Alexandreia Troas mint. A comparison of the obverse die used here with some of the dies used for the latest emission at that mint (Thompson 162-163), reveal a nearly identical style suggesting a common engraver (see, esp. J. Schulman, 28 May 1973, lot 1143).