Sale: Triton VIII, Lot: 298. Estimate $30000.  Closing Date: Monday, 10 January 2005.  Sold For $42500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

BOEOTIA, Thebes. Confederate coinage. Circa 288-244 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.69 gm, 1h). Laureate head of Zeus right / BOI-WTWN, Poseidon seated left, holding dolphin in extended right hand, trident in left; Boeotian shield ornament on throne. BMC Central Greece pg. 38, 63; SNG Copenhagen -; Pozzi -; Jameson 2065 = Weber 3303 (same reverse die); de Luynes 1980; Mionnet II pg. 103, 59. Good VF, toned, minor porosity. Extremely rare, one of only four published examples (all from two sets of dies) plus two more examples in the ANS. ($30,000)

The rarity and extraordinary design of this remarkable coinage suggest an issue of short duration and a connection with an event of some significance. The most likely occasion was the invasion of Boeotia by the Aitolians in 245 BC. The Aitolians easily defeated the confederacy in a battle near Chaironeia, and forced the Boeotians to join the Aitolian League. In the following year, the Boeotians appealed to Macedon, through whose aid they were freed from the Aitolian yoke. During this conflict, coinage could have been issued in preparation for the conflict, as tribute to the victorious Aitolians, or as payment to Macedon in return for aid. The types and fabric are certainly reminiscent of the impressive Attic tetradrachms of the Aitolian League (see lot 289, above), which date to the same general period.