‡ Italy, Etruria, Populonia, 10 asses, c. 300-250 BC, Χ, laureate male head (Aplu?) left, rev., no type, 4.18g (Vecchi, 70.139, this piece; Vecchi, SNR 71, 11.12, this piece; SNG ANS 26, same obverse die), deep toning, extremely fine Provenance: Hess-Leu 31, Lucerne, 6 December 1966, lot 15; Charles Gillet (private catalogue, pl. 1, 6); Tradart, Geneva, 8 November 1992, lot 7; European Connoisseur collection (formed before 2002).Note: Apollo (Aplu or Apulu), while known to the Etruscans from an early date, was not a member of their original pantheon and was borrowed from the Greeks. The argument that ‘the divinity is clearly Aplu’ (Vecchi, SNR 71, 96) is based on similarities to depictions on Etruscan mirrors where the god is explicitly named; the comparisons are attractive but the identification remains uncertain.

Estimate: GBP 5000-7000