Third Known

Triton XVIII, Lot: 762. Estimate $750. Sold for $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ARABIA, Southern. Qataban. Unknown ruler(s). Before 150 BC. AR “Gms” – Hemidrachm (11mm, 2.01 g, 9h). Imitating Athens. Male head right, wearing broad diadem inscribed gms¹m (in Qatabanian = “one gms”) / Owl standing right, head facing; monogram to left, Royal Qatabanian monogram and AΘE to right. CAF 1.8aii, fig. 413 = Huth 357 = HGC 10, 712 (illustration); Triton XVII, lot 595. Near EF. Excellent metal. Extremely rare, the third known.

With its male obverse head, this type marks the transition in South Arabia from owl imitations to a coinage bearing local images. It is also important for the curious inscription on the diadem, which, in fact, provides the coin’s denomination, and therefore confirms the South Arabian coin designations mentioned in minuscule inscriptions found on wooden sticks (cf. Stein in CCK). This important rarity thus represents a short and very experimental phase in South Arabian coinage. Whereas the inscription on the diadem is less clear than on the single previously known example, the present coin has a complete monogram behind the owl’s back. (CNG thanks Martin Huth for providing this commentary on this intriguing coin.)