Ionia
Miletos. Circa 250-190/80 BC. Didrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 10.43 g, 12 h), Persic standard, struck under the magistrate Neon. Laureate head of Apollo to left. Rev. NEΩN Lion standing to left, his head turned back to right; above, 8-pointed star; to left, Miletos monogram above monogram; in exergue, magistrate’s name. Deppert-Lippitz, - (but reverse monograms apparent in 507-508). Very rare, nicely struck and with a very well-centered reverse. Slightly rough surfaces, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

From the Trausnitz Collection, ex Lanz 79, 26 November 1996, 287, Lanz 68, 6 June 1994, 181, and Lanz 60, 11 June 1992, 209.An earlier magistrate with the name Neon is known from Miletos, where he signed drachms struck between 340 and 325 BC (as D-L 211-212). He may have been an ancestor of the magistrate responsible for this piece (he may also have conceivably been the individual mentioned in an obscure passage of the Pseuda – XI,27b – who was a failed researcher in artificial lighting).