305, Lot: 140. Estimate $200. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of PERGAMON. Philetairos. 282-263 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 16.84 g, 1h). Struck circa 269/8-263 BC. Diademed head right / Athena enthroned left, holding shield and transverse spear, resting elbow on small triton; bow to outer right, ivy leaf in exergue. Westermark Group II, dies V.II/R.1 (Eumenes I); SNG France 1603 (Eumenes I); SNG von Aulock 1957 (same dies; Eumenes I); U. Wartenberg & J.H. Kagan, “Some comments on a new hoard from the Balkan area,” Travaux Le Rider, p. 400, 94 (this coin, illustrated on pl. 444; Eumenes I). VF, toned, small test cut on obverse.

Ex 1990s Balkan Area Hoard (CH IX, 196).

Distinguishing the issues between the various rulers has been difficult for numismatists. Westermark’s die study of the coinage, however, provided the key necessary for understanding the series, although more recent hoard evidence, particularly the Meydancikkale hoard (and C. Arnold-Biucchi’s review of it in AJN 3-4 [1992], pp. 207–14), has refined Westermark’s assignment of the issues.

The 1990s Balkan Area Hoard consisted of 78 official Hellenistic tetradrachms and 20 Celtic imitations, including the following: Philip II (2), Celtic imitations of Philip II (17) and Alexander III (1), various issues in the name of Alexander III (50), Philip III (1), Demetrios Poliorketes (3), Lysimachos (10), Seleukos I (4), Antiochos I (5), Antiochos II (1), Eumenes of Pergmon (3), and the Thracian king Orsoaltios (1). The exact findspot of the hoard is unknown, but a location in Serbia or western Romania seems likely. The latest datable coins would seem to indicate a burial around 240 BC, although this is complicated by the Celtic issues. The composition of the hoard is similar to other hoards from the Balkans (see Wartenberg & Kagan p. 395, note 1), and sheds light on the circulation of Hellenistic coins in the region. It also demonstrates a complex system of applying test cuts and countermarks.

Forty-three of the official Hellenistic coins from the hoard carry a trefoil-shaped countermark combined with one or more test cuts; the cuts typically appearing at the back or top of the head on the obverse and the countermark on the cheek, chin, or neck area. The combination of the two and the fact that the cuts never run over the countermark may suggest a two-step process in testing the coinage. While we may not fully understand the significance of this process, as noted in the publication of the hoard (p. 407): “What we do know is that the cuts and countermarks were part of a sophisticated and controlled process and not just the reduction of these coins into bullion by a barbarian people.”

The hoard may also provide some evidence on the dating of the Celtic issues, normally assigned to the later 3rd century BC. Although the possibility of the Celtic coins being later additions cannot be ruled out, the composition of the remainder of the hoard would seem to suggest an earlier date for their issue than normally given.