392, Lot: 283. Estimate $100. Sold for $400. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of LYDIA. temp. Cyrus – Darios I. Circa 550/39-520 BC. AR Forty-eighth Stater (5mm, 0.22 g). Sardes mint. Head of lion right / Incuse square. CNG 103, lot 300; CNG E-355, lot 125; CNG E-269, lot 136; Hauck & Aufhäuser 14, lot 80; otherwise unpublished in the standard references. VF, toned. Rare.

The lion on this piece has a style that is identical to that found on the ubiquitous Kroiseids struck under the Persians. Rather than being a novel fraction begun under the Persians, there may actually be a prototype that was struck under Kroisos. A small quantity of coins appeared on the market that are of the same type and weight as the present coin, but the style of the lion on these coins are identical to the lifetime issues of Kroisos: cf. CNG E-355, lot 125; CNG E-269, lot 136; and Hauck & Aufhäuser 14, lot 80. Although those coins were not attributed to Kroisos in their sales, the appearance of this overtly Persian style piece makes it highly likely that these constitute a previously unknown forty-eighth stater denomination for each series of Kroiseids.