Mytilene (BC 454-427) EL Hekte - B58

ca 454-427 BC. EL Hekte (2.56g, 10.5mm, 4h). Laureate head of Apollo facing right / Rock partridge standing right in linear square, letter “F” in front, all within incuse square. gVF. Carr coll.

Bodenstedt notes 5 examples of this emission. A further 8 examples, including this one, have appeared at auction. A close examination of the examples that have appeared at auction reveals that 5 of the 8 are from the same reverse die, which shows deterioration and progression of a die crack. The sequence from no die crack is as follows: Roma Auc. X (4/2016), lot 370; CNG Auc. 102 (5/2016), lot 423 (this coin); CNG Auc, Triton XIX (1/2016), lot 198; CNG Auc. 69 (6/2005), lot 377 (Asia Minor Coins, Coin ID #1947); and CNG Auc. 384 (10/2016), lot 218. This group of 5 coins from the same reverse die also reveals what appears to be a letter “F” in front of the breast of the partridge. This letter is more distinct in in some coins than in others and has previously gone unrecorded in the descriptions of these coins.