Thrace. Lysimachus. Uncertain mint. AV Stater (8.49g), 3rd century BC. MAST 2.77 (this coin); Thompson -. Very rare. Lightly toned with underlying luster. Well centered and struck. A fascinating and intriguing issue. The finest of only three known! Choice extremely fine. Acquired privately from Tradart, Brussels; Giessener Munzhandlung Dieter Gorny 1989 (44) lot 179.

Exactly who is meant to be portrayed on obverse is uncertain. It is obviously not Alexander! The short hair on the back of the neck makes this interesting issue look much more like a Seleucid king or, even, a Cappadocian one, than any typical head of Alexander. One wonders whether it could be someone like Hierax or even Ariarathes IV. A few rare posthumous staters of Philip II are known with distinctively individual portraits, so the possibility of this coin being discretely struck in the name of the deceased Lysimachus, but bearing the portrait of a contemporary ruler would be quite reasonable.