ISLANDS OFF THRACE, Samothrace. Circa 168-150 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 37 mm, 16.92 g, 8 h), struck under the chief magistrate Polyxenos and the assistant Ant.... Head of Athena to left, wearing a Corinthian helmet adorned with a snake coiled to left. Rev. ΣΑΜΟΘ / ΠΟΛΥ-ΞENOY Kybele, wearing a tall polos and long robes, seated to left on a decorated, high-backed throne; holding a phiale in her extended right hand and a long scepter with her left; under the throne, lion seated to left; in the exergue, monogram of ΑΝΤ. Berlin 18207685 = HGC VI, 314 (but with the magistrate's name wrongly given as Πολυξενιδου) = Regling, Babylon, ZfN 38, pp. 92 and 102 ff., 1 and Taf. 8 = Schönert-Geiss, Zur Münzprägung von Samothrake. Ein Überblick, ΧΑΡΑΚΤΗΡ, Festschrift M. Oikonomidou, ed. A. Abramea. Athens, 1996. pp. 271-276, and especially p. 273 and fig. 1, 7 (same dies). Bank Leu 45, 1988, 88 (same dies). Nomos 38, 2026, 210 (same dies but more worn). Extremely rare, the fourth known example. Toned and well-struck on a very broad flan. Nearly extremely fine. Why Samothrace minted this exceptional coin type remains unclear. The fact that it is known from only a single die pair suggests that it was struck in extremely small numbers, perhaps as a donative financed by a wealthy citizen for use as a prize at a civic festival. https://cdn.nomosag.com/auctions/95/video00127.mp4?sv=2023-01-03&ss=b&srt=co&st=2025-03-10T16%3A25%3A27Z&se=2099-03-11T16%3A25%3A00Z&sp=rl&sig=i7RzFAqwYGMJUp3u71BbRyL3HhIAtR%2F8cUnRnTVQfyU%3D&rsct=video%2Fmp4