LESBOS. Uncertain mint. Circa 550-480 BC. 1/12 Stater (Billon, 8 mm, 0.85 g, 1 h). Head of a young African male to right. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. BMC 42. Rosen - . SNG Copenhagen 295. SNG von Aulock 7715. Rare. Light porosity as usual, otherwise, very fine.


The African head on the obverse perhaps represents Delphos, the founder of Apollo's most famous sanctuary, who was a son of Poseidon and the nymph Melaine (meaning 'the Black' in Greek) and hence sometimes depicted as an African (for example on some rare hemiobols from Delphi).