Sold from our JJFN Ebay store, 3 Dec 2012
Lucania, Velia AR Drachm (3.69g, 18.5g, 6h). Circa 440 – 400 BCE.
Obverse: Head of nymph right, hair arranged in waves.
Reverse: YEΛH. Owl standing right, head facing, on olive spray with two leaves.
References: Williams 180 (O114/R138); HN Italy 1272 (var. right/right); SNG Ashmolean 1147; SGC (v1) 251.
Die matches: Rev (maybe obv), CNG 386-42, later Aegean [Vcoins SKU: 071813] (see also Bertolami EA 44, 91).
Provenance: Ex Colin E. Pitchfork Collection, CNG EA 233 (26 May 2010), 606.3; VAuctions Sale 284 (12 Jul 2012), Lot 10; Jackson & Jacobs Family Numis. (Tucson, AZ, 3 December 2012; ebay item #330831837178)
Notes: Rare type. Example of scarcer, earlier, transitional period style between the older archaic nymph and later depictions on Velian and other Lucanian (important region in southern Italy) coinage, often with tied or diademed hair. (The same is true of the owl on Velian and Lucanian drachm and nomos series, continuing into the 3rd century.) The Velia-Owl drachms continued to be minted throughout the 5th and 4th centuries, with variation in the style over time.