LYCIA. Oenoanda. Ca. 2nd century BC. AR stater or didrachm (22mm, 7.79 gm, 12h). NGC Choice XF 5/5 - 3/5. Dated Year 3 (186/5 BC) Laureate head of Zeus right, scepter surmounted by lotus over shoulder, B (partially erased from die) behind / OINO-ANΔЄ/wN, eagle with closed wings standing right on winged thunderbolt, Γ (date) below tail, transverse sword behind shield in right field. BMC Lycia 1. Superbly struck on flashy surfaces with areas of orange toning. From the Paramount Collection Until about a two decades ago, the British Museum Oenoanda coin was the only known example to exist. The discovery in the early 2000s of a significant group of didrachms brought many more examples to market and added immensely to our understanding of the coinage, revealing that at least three distinct issues were originally struck, marked by a sequence of letters and symbols. The presence of the lotus-scepter over the shoulder of Zeus and the eagle-on-thunderbolt reverse motif both suggest a close affinity to the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.

HID09801242017

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