★ The Desirable Gillet "Kunstfreund" Knidos! ★

CARIA. Knidos. Circa 404-395 BC. Drachm (Silver, 21.5 mm, 6.17 g, 6 h). Forepart of lion to right, with open jaws and outstretched right paw. Rev. K - N - I Head of Aphrodite to right, her hair bound in a plain sphendone, wearing plain necklace; all within incuse square. Cahn 115.4 = Jameson 2301 = Kunstfreund 164 ( this coin ). Well struck and attractively toned with a beautiful portrait of Aphrodite of serene Classical stzle. Die flaw on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.

Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 46, 2 April 2008, 279, Münzen und Medaillen 79, 28 February 1994, 364 and from the collections of Charles Gillet (Kunstfreund), Münzen und Medaillen/Bank Leu, 28 May 1974, 164, and R. Jameson, acquired prior to 1924.

Charles Gillet had indeed an extensive and beautiful collection. We are lucky that Bank Leu and Silvia Hurter created the photos of the majority of his collection (a few parts not available to Bank Leu were not included, but people with keen eyes and a few winters on their backs, know where the are located) and thus the numismatic society is lucky to have the Gillet "photo file". Of course not all the coins of the photo file appeared eventually in Gillets post-mortem legendary "Kunstfreund" auction. This privilege was reserved for the absolutely masterpieces, the cremé-de-la-cremé, and this coin was for the Leu/M&M cataloguers definitely one of those.