Description
Cyprus. Nikodamos. Stater ca. 460-450 BC, Salamis. Silver 11.21 g.; 26.3 mm.
Obverse: Ram recumbent to left. Obverse caption: 'pa-si-le-wo-se // Ni-ko-da-mo', 'king Nikodamos', in retrograde Cypriote syllabary, starting on the top right, continuing to the middle left, then starting on the bottom right //
Reverse: Ankh, with in the circle the Cypriote syllabary letter "ni" for Nikodamos. Reverse caption: 'se-la-mi-ni', 'Salamis' in retrograde Cypriote syllabary, counter-clockwise from the bottom right, then top right, top left and bottom left. ???? 'Ni' in center for Nikodamos.
Extremely rare, appears to be unpublished. NGC graded XF Strike: 3/5 Surface: 5/5
Provenance Details
From a Swiss collection. Ex Nomos 18, 2019, 217.
Acquired from a Bavarian collection, formed at the beginning in the 1960s and ending in the 1990s.
Comment
Apparently, this specimen has an unpublished and unique reverse die type (cf. Roma Numismatics, Auction 23, 2022, 350 for similar specimen with same observe die), very nicely preserved despite an off-center obverse strike and a few small flats on the reliefs.
Traité I 944, pl. XXVI, 21 var. (1/3 stater); NAC 59, 639 var. (1/3 stater); BMC 32 var. (Diobol). K. McGregor, The Coinage of Salamis, Cyprus, from the Sixth to the Fourth Centuries, University College London (unpublished PhD Thesis 1998, J.I) 291-9 var. (1/3 stater) and cf. 327 (florals of three sprays in reverse dies).
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