★ A very rare late Hellenistic stater from Ephesos ★

IONIA. Ephesos. 133-88 BC. Stater (Gold, 19 mm, 8.42 g, 12 h), circa 122/1-121/0. Draped bust of Artemis to right, wearing stephane and pendant earring and with her quiver and bow over shoulder. Rev. Ε-Φ Cult statue of Artemis Ephesiae facing, with polos on head and fillets hanging from wrists; to inner right, thymiaterion. CNG 106 (2017), 367. Heritage 3057 (2017), 30132. Jenkins, Hellenistic, pl. B, 6. Roma XIV (2017), 144 ( all from the same dies ). Very rare. Light die wear and minor marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

For the dating of this very rare series, see the comment in Classical Numismatic Group 106, 13 September 2017, 367. The plain and simple type, with nothing but the head of Artemis, her cult statue and the ethnic of the polis, is of striking contrast to the recently surfaced, previously unrecorded staters from Magnesia ad Maeandrum (see the following lot).