ISLANDS OFF IONIA, Samos. Circa 499-495 BC. Diobol (Silver, 11 mm, 1.19 g, 12 h). Lion's mask facing, on a round shield with a rayed border. Rev. Head and neck of an ox to right; all within an incuse square. Barron p. 177, 1-5. Rare. Well-struck and nicely toned. About extremely fine.

From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Münzen und Medailen FPL 549, November/December 1991, 88 and from the collection of Greta Heckett, Sotheby Parke Bernet, 10 June 1977, 86.

The standard reference for the coins of Samos is John Penrose Barron's 1966 work, The Silver Coins of Samos. Barron was a noted classical scholar and a distinguished numismatist, who also seems to have been a progressive in the good sense of the term. Unfortunately, he was not all that good at writing easy-to-use reference books on numismatics! Not only does the numbering restart with every section of this book, it restarts with every denomination within those sections!