Abydus, Troas, EL Trite, ca 500 BC, 4.66 g. Eagle standing left, with closed wings, looking backwards, dolphin to left. Irregular incuse punch. SNG München –, cf. 1 (stater). BMC –, cf. Ionia pl. I, 23 (stater). Aufhauser sale 20, 2007, 73. Of the highest rarity, apparently only the second specimen known. Head, NC 1875, page 265, plate VII, 7. Attributing this uninscribed electrum coin to Abydus is an obvious possibility since the eagle was a common feature of its coinage. This piece has much in common with other coins which have also defied a reliable mint assignment. Foremost is an EL stater of approximately the same era in BMC Ionia (pl. I, no. 23); showing an eagle of similar proportions and identical pose, perched upon what is described as a hare, though it seems barely visible enough to make that assessment. The incuse punch on the British Museum stater is of a different character, but that does not preclude the chance that they are related. Mention is made there of a stater of the same type considered to be of an earlier period; instead of the eagle being perched on a hare it stands before a dolphin. Head suggested Abydus for the BMC stater, no doubt because of its standing eagle, commonly observed on Abydos coinage. Other coinages with a standing eagle that offer comparison include some early silver fractions attributed to Abydus with incuse punch reverses (SNG Cop. 1-2; SNG Klein 292), though they show a bird of a different character, without its head reverted, as is the standard for Abydus. With kind permission of Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 59, 4th April 2011, lot 610. Price realized: 18,000 CHF (approx. $19,392 as of the auction date).