WESTERN ASIA MINOR, Uncertain. 2nd-1st centuries BC. AE (Bronze, 18 mm, 6.20 g, 12 h). Facing head of a bull; above, eight-rayed star. Rev. ΣΟΑΤΙ[Σ](?) Owl standing right, head facing and wings spread, on palm frond; ti left, monogram. Classical Numismatic Group E-Auction 461 (2020), 137. SNG Tübingen 2442 ('Pergamon'). Very rare. Light deposits and the obverse struck slightly off center, otherwise, good very fine.



In SNG Tübingen and in Leschhorn (p. 552), the inscription on this very rare and enigmatic type is interpreted as ZΩATIΣ (?). However, our specimen shows the inscription as ΣΟΑΤΙ[.], with the final letter remaining unclear. The meaning of this legend is uncertain. Unless it represents an otherwise unattested ethnic, the most plausible interpretation is that it refers to an unusual magistrate’s name, Soati(s) (?).

Iconographically, the reverse of the coin closely resembles types from Pergamon (cf. BMC 190), which notably also omit an ethnic. However, these Pergamene issues do not name a magistrate, but instead identify the victorious Athena depicted on the obverse. A frontal bull’s head, as seen on our coin, does not appear elsewhere in the known Pergamene coinage, though bull heads in profile are attested.

The issuing authority behind this extremely rare coin therefore remains unknown, as does the question of whether it was struck in Pergamon or at another, as yet unidentified, mint.