351, Lot: 35. Estimate $150. Sold for $340. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of THRACE, Macedonian. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AR Drachm (16.5mm, 4.19 g, 6h). In the types of Alexander III of Macedon. Lampsakos mint. Struck circa 299/8-297/6 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; in left field, dolphin left above lion forepart left; torch below throne. Thompson 36; Price L12; Müller 25; ADM II I-J var. (position of name and ethnic); SNG France –; N. Sicurella, “An unpublished drachm of Lysimachus” in The Celator 10.6 (June 1996), figs. 1–2 (this coin, on right). Good VF, lightly toned. Very rare, particularly with royal title in exergue and name on right.

From the Nicholas Sicurella Collection.

This and the previous coin demonstrate that the positions of the royal title and name often switch places, even on the same issue. In fact, both of these coins even share the same obverse die! At Lampsakos, the royal title usually appears on the right side, so the present coin is relatively rare for the fact that here the title is in the exergue. None of the base references -- Thompson, Price, and Müller -- differentiate between these legend varieties.