126, Lot: 60. Estimate $100. Sold for $155. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Ephesos. 1st Century AD. Æ Tesserae (21mm, 5.87 g). Stag kneeling left, head reverted / Bee. BMC Ionia pg. 70, 186; SNG Copenhagen 355; SNG von Aulock 1875. VF, dark green patina, mounted in a contemporary silver bezel which has been broken, most likely where a loop had been for suspension.

A long series of tesserae, or tokens, was produced at the cult center of Ephesos during the Hellenistic period and later. The legends generally cannot be translated, and are probably for the most part meaningless mystical formulae.