Enigmatic Early Silver

344, Lot: 114. Estimate $200. Sold for $900. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ISLANDS off IONIA, Samos(?). Circa 600-570 BC. Fourrée Hekte Core(?) (13mm, 2.82 g). Typeless rough surface with irregular markings / Two incuse squares. Unpublished as a fourrée, for genuine hektai, cf. Konuk, Electrum, Type 1 and HGC 6, 1166 corr. (Kayhan reference incorrect). VF, find patina.

The obverse design is clearly an imitation of the earliest electrum from Samos. The reverse, however, is perplexing, as the genuine hektai of Samos only have a single incuse. Either this type is a fourrée of an unknown variety of Samian electrum, is a heretofore unknown silver issue contemporary with the electrum, or is a silver imitation based off the Samian electrum.