Thraco-Macedonian Region, Uncertain mints (perhaps of the Derrones?). Silver Tetradrachm (13.54 g), ca. 520-500 BC. Bull walking left on ground line, head lowered. Rev. Small incuse square with irregular surfaces. HPM 33, pl. II, 19 = Traité IV 1227, pl. CCCXXVI, 20 = J. Kagan, "Some Archaic Bovine Curiosities," MN 33 (1988), p. 41, 4, pl. 16 (same Rev. die); cf. Gorny 52, 148; SNG ANS -. Exceedingly Rare - only two other known specimens. Struck on a very broad flan. Toned. Very Fine. Estimate Value $5,000 - UP
Ex Prospero Collection (New York Sale XXVII, 4 January 2012), 252 (purchased privately from Athena, Munich, 27 October 1989).
The Derrones have been variously identified as a Thracian or Paeonian people who may have inhabited the Upper Strymon valley or a region further to the south. They are known exclusively from their inscribed Archaic coinage which is described in Greek as "Derronic" (ΔEPPONIKON). This particular coin belongs to an anepigraphic issue that has been tentatively associated with the Derrones in the past, but the style of the bull seems very different from that of the oxen on their inscribed issues. In his 1988 article in Museum Notes, Kagan only attributes this issue to the Thraco-Macedonian region and points out that coins of similar weight and denomination were struck by Alexander I of Macedon (c. 498-454 BC).