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Miletos Lion / Star Twelfth-Stater (Obol)

Specimen · miletos-lion-star-obol-001

The Coin

Obverse
Obverse — forepart of a roaring lion to the left, the head turned back over the shoulder; the mane in rows of short strokes, the jaw open. Cropped and centred from the house photograph, no other retouching.
Image source & licence

Image: NGC PhotoVision (NGCcoin.com) via Heritage Auctions (HA.com), lot 232638-63027.

Reverse
Reverse — the stellate pattern in its incuse square: four large petal-shaped rays on the diagonals, smaller rays between them, and at the centre a diamond enclosing a pellet. Cropped and centred from the house photograph, no other retouching.
Image source & licence

Image: NGC PhotoVision (NGCcoin.com) via Heritage Auctions (HA.com), lot 232638-63027.

Grading Label

Grading Label
The NGC holder, front — label and obverse. IONIA, MILETUS · late 6th–5th Centuries BC · AR Obol · Ch XF · certification 8569270-124. An older-style NGC Ancients label: no weight, no diameter, no sub-grades. Heritage's credit strip trimmed from the bottom of the photograph; otherwise as supplied.
Image source & licence

Image: Heritage Auctions (HA.com), lot 232638-63027.

Grading Label Reverse
The NGC holder, back — the reverse of the coin through the plastic, with the holder's hologram and verification panel. Heritage's credit strip trimmed; otherwise as supplied.
Image source & licence

Image: Heritage Auctions (HA.com), lot 232638-63027.

Attribution: Asia Minor (Ionia). Miletos. The city of Miletos. c. 525–494 BC (the house and NGC: late 6th–5th centuries BC — see notes). AR. obol (twelfth-stater).

Obverse: Forepart of a roaring lion to the left, the head turned back over the shoulder (reverted), mane rendered as rows of short strokes

Reverse: Stellate floral pattern — four large petal-shaped rays on the diagonals with smaller rays between them, around a central diamond enclosing a pellet — all within an incuse square

Weight: NO WEIGHT EXISTS FOR THIS COIN FROM ANY SOURCE, and now none ever will: the NGC label of this older style gives the attribution and a bare grade only, Heritage's cataloguing gives no weight, and the coin is sealed and staying sealed. The standard for the denomination — a twelfth of the 14.1 g Lydo-Milesian stater, about 1.18 g — is the only figure there is. · 10 mm  Reference: SNG Kayhan 462–475

Type-level historical context, attribution detail, and references → Miletos Lion / Star Twelfth-Stater (Obol)

John's Ancient Coin Collection · Specimen · miletos-lion-star-obol-001

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