317, Lot: 98. Estimate $100. Sold for $450. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

PHOENICIA, Tripolis(?). 2nd century BC. Æ (15mm, 3.17 g, 1h). Dated SE 124 (189/8 BC). Veiled and draped female bust right / Piloi of the Dioskouroi surmounted by stars; ΔΚΡ (date) above, Phoenician letters around. BMC p. cxx, pl. XLIII, 9; otherwise unpublished in the standard references. VF, green patina, cleaning scratches. Extremely rare.

An enigmatic coin. The obverse carries a Ptolemaic–style portrait which the BMC text tentatively identified as Kleopatra I. The piloi on the reverse conform well to the types of Tripolis, whose coins frequently carry imagery related to the Dioskouroi. If belonging to Tripolis, this would be the earliest dated coin of the mint and the only to carry a Phoenician inscription. Another specimen in the ANS (1944.100.70712) has been assigned to Arados.