★ A very rare Ionian imitation of a Lydian hemihekte ★

IONIA. Uncertain. Circa 600-550 BC. Hemihekte – 1/12 Stater (Electrum, 8 mm, 1.11 g), Lydo-Milesian standard. Head of a roaring lion to right, 'sun' with no rays on forehead. Rev. Incuse square. Cf. Rosen 654, SNG Kayhan 1015 and Weidauer Group XVI, 90 (for Lydian protoype). Very rare. Light scratches on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.

Ex Leu Web Auction 18, 19-21 December 2021, 1196 and Naumann E-Auction 62, 4 February 2018, 301.

This is a curious coin. While it copies the well-known Lydian issues from the time of Alyattes to Kroisos with a roaring lion, the style is distinctly different, indicating that the coin originates from an uncertain mint in Ionia that imitated the coinage of the Lydian Kings.