Corinth, Corinthia. AR Stater (8.52g, 21mm, 9h). Struck circa 345 – 305 BCE
Video of this coin available here
Obverse: Pegasos flying right, Ϙ symbol below.
Reverse: Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet. Γ below chin, dove within wreath.
References: Ravel 1029; Calciati Pegasi 419; BCD Corinth 110; SNG Lockett 2094.
Provenance: Ex Prof. Samuel-Jean Pozzi (1846-1918) Collection, sold at Naville et Cie (Lucerne, 14 March 1921), Catalogue de Monnaies Grecques Antiques Provenant de la Collection de feu le Prof. S. Pozzi, Lot 1688 (Hammer, Sfr 17). Published in Boutin's 1979 catalog of the collection, No. 3756.
Privately purchased from Anthony "Tony" Tumonis at Halden Birt’s Glass Shoppe Coins (Tucson, AZ, circa 1991-2).
Notes: One of the scarcer reverse dies for this type but, in my view, an especially expressive and lifelike Athena. Dark old cabinet tone. Well centered. Among the favorites of collection.
Hist. Notes: Dr. Samuel-Jean Pozzi (1846-1918) was a celebrated French gynecologist whose life was cut short when a disgruntled patient murdered him. He had been assembling one of the world's finest private collections of Greek coins for 25 years.
The Pozzi Collection was cataloged for the first sale by Naville et Cie in 1921. During the early 20th century "golden age" of ancient coin catalogs, the Pozzi catalog set the standard, illustrating every lot and providing weights to 0.01g -- a level of completeness previously unthinkable. For decades, it was a standard reference for Greek coinage by scholars, dealers, and collectors.
Alan S. Walker described it as "very possibly the best known and most famous auction catalogue of Greek coins ever produced" (2008, AJN, p. 604). For this reason, as Harlan J. Berk commented, “The Pozzi pedigree is one of the most revered in numismatics" (Berk 2004, BBS 190).
Bibliographic: Further references for the Pozzi Sale: Clain-Stefanelli 1988*; Daehn 2084; Grierson, p. 296; Kroh, p 11 (four stars); Spring 471, “Most important sales of ancient Greek coins.” References for the Boutin (1979) catalog: Clain-Stefanelli 1932*; Daehn 2031.