★ Ex Tritn sale VIII, 2005, lot 1992 (part of). From the Tony Hardy collection. From the Duplicates of the BCD collection. Sold with collector's ticket. ★

Locri Opuntii, Bronze third quarter of I cent. BC, Æ 18.60 mm., 4.10 g.
Head of Apollo laureate, r. Rev. OPOYNTIΩN Male figure standing r., draped, holding spear over shoulder and patera in extended r., snake at his feet. from bottom l. circular. The second coin countermarked. BCD Lokris-Phocis 149. SNG Cop 79. JIAN IX (1906) p. 295, pl.13, 4.

Extremely rare, nice green patina, Very Fine.

Ex Tritn sale VIII, 2005, lot 1992 (part of). From the Tony Hardy collection. From the Duplicates of the BCD collection. Sold with collector's ticket.

SNG Copenhagen describes the reverse figure as “Hero (Opus?), standing with sword and lance and feeding serpent”. The hero is indeed carrying a sword but it is sheathed and only the top of the sheath is visible, hanging on his left side. Imhoof-Blumer gave a more detailed description of this interesting type in Monnaies Grecques (1883) p. 148, 73; it is worth reproducing here as the type could well be a copy of a statue: “Héros (Opous?) nu et debout à dr., le genou g. courbé. Sa tête parait casquée. La chlamyde, rejetée derrière les épaules, couvre le dos. Derrière le flanc g. on voit le bout d’une épée; de la main g. il tient obliquement une haste, appuyée contre l’épaule, et de la droite étendue il parait tenir une patère. A ses piéds, un serpent dressé à dr. Dans le champ à g., un grain de blé en contremarque.”