Important Ancient Coins

GREEK COINAGES, Thrace, DIKAIA, Obol, c. 500, head and neck of ox right, terminating in dotted truncation, rev. four-part incuse square, 0.25g (cf. Barron, The Silver Coins of Samos, pl. 5, 1a and 2 [Trihemiobols]). Good very fine; unpublished in the standard references £80-100

The proposition by J.M.F. May in ‘The Coinage of Dikaia-by-Abdera, c. 540/35-476/5 B.C.’, NC 1965, p.2, that Dikaia-by-Abdera might have been a colony of Samos is substantiated by this coin and those in the following lots. They not only have a provenance from the region but also share types directly derived from Samian prototypes which probably precede the Herakles issues of Dikaia