★ Reassigning the series to Olympia ★

ELIS. Olympia. 105th Olympiad (?), 360 BC. Tritartemorion (Silver, 10 mm, 0.49 g). Head of the nymph Olympia to right. Rev. F-A-Λ between large TTT arranged in triskeles pattern. BCD Olympia -, cf. 120 (similar reverse). BCD Peloponnesos -, cf. 1772 ( same obverse die, but differing reverse and assigned to an uncertain Arcadian mint). BMC -, cf. 81 (similar reverse). HN -, cf. p. 428 (differing reverse and assigned to Pale on Kephallenia). F. Imhoof-Blumer: Griechische Münzen, in: NC 1895 -, cf. p. 270-1 (differing reverse and assigned to Pale on Kephallenia). Seltman -, cf. p. 62 & pl. VIII, 25 (similar reverse) and p. 63 & pl. VIII, 24 (similar obverse but differing reverse and denomination). Traité III -, cf. 1255 & pl. CCXXXVIII, 6 (differing reverse and assigned to Pale on Kephallenia). Apparently unpublished and of great interest. Harshly cleaned, otherwise, very fine.

Based on the reverse legend of FAΛ, this piece must certainly be assigned to Olympia, the famed home of the Olympic Games. Tritartemoria with a similar reverse are known from the city, but they show Zeus on the obverse rather than the nymph Olympia, as on our example. In addition, our piece appears to be die-linked to an enigmatic issue of tritartemoria that, in the past, have either been assigned to Pale on Kephallenia (Head, Imhoof-Blumer and Babelon) or to an uncertain Arcadian mint, close to the border with Elis (see the note to BCD Peloponnesos 1772). In the light of the present discovery, however, it seems very likely that these coins were all struck in Olympia itself.