‡ Italy, Calabria, Tarentum, gold stater, c. 276-272 BC, laureate head of Zeus right; behind, monogram ΝΚ, rev., ΤΑΡΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ, eagle with spread wings standing left on thunderbolt; in field left, Athena Promachos advancing left, 8.57g, die axis 4.00 (Fischer-Bossert G. 39d, this piece; Vlasto 37, same dies; Vlasto (1899) 6; Vlasto (Warren) p. 146, 2a, pl. XII, 2 = Jameson 2393 = Gulbenkian 40, same dies), minor obverse marks in hair but otherwise extremely fine and very rare Provenance: Hesperia Art, List 1, Spring 1951, 2 ($900); R.P. Pflieger collection, J. Vinchon, 13 April 1985, lot 29; Tradart, Geneva, 12 December 1991, lot 7 (colour enlargement p. 19); European Connoisseur collection (formed before 2002).Note: Part of the legacy of Pyrrhus of Epirus’s Italian and Sicilian campaigns is the spectacular series of coins struck on his behalf. This and the following lot form part of the wonderfully elegant coinage struck by the Tarentines while Pyrrhus was fighting on their behalf. For the exceptionally rare related gold stater struck in his name at Syracuse during his Sicilian expedition, see lot 312.

Estimate: GBP 40000-60000