EX BRITISH MUSEUM AND 1869 IDALIUM HOARD.
Cyprus. Idalium, Attributed to the King Stasikypros. - c. 460-450 BC. Tetrobol, 3.53g (1h). Obv: Sphinx seated left; monogram before breast. Rx: Lotus flower; to right, astragalos; to left, leaf. BMC 24, pl. V, 15 (this coin). R.H. Lang, NC 1871, p. 12, 7 (this coin in a line drawing). SNG Copenhagen 22. Porous surfaces. Distinctive cabinet toning. About EF

Ex Baldwin's 68, 28-29 September 2010, lot 3432. Ex British Museum

Notes
A hoard coin with an old and distinguished pedigree, published for the first time by R.H. Lang, On Coins Discovered During Recent Excavations in the Island of Cyprus, Numismatic Chronicle 1871, p. 12, no. 7, with an accurate line drawing clearly showing this specimen. The coin formed part of a hoard found by Lang’s workmen in 1869 during his excavation of a temple in the ancient city of Idalium on Cyprus; it entered the British Museum collection in 1870, and was published again, this time with a photograph, in BMC Cyprus, 1904, p. 28, no. 24, pl. V.15. But later the BM apparently deaccessioned the coin and exchanged it, which they could do without harming the collection, since in 1904 they also possessed eight other specimens from the same die pair, all acquired from Lang. The new owner of this coin will receive a photocopy of Lang’s 1871 article publishing the complete contents of the two hoards he had found. It is a joy for us to auction this coin and pass on this interesting piece of numismatic history