THESSALY, Lamia
AE Chalkous. 2.07g, 15.5mm
MINTED: THESSALY, Lamia, circa 370-352 BC
REF: BCD Thessaly II 128.2; HGC 4, 126 (S)
OBVERSE: Head of the nymph Lamia right.
REVERSE: ΛΑΜΙΕ-ΩΝ, Philoktetes kneeling left, upper body right, shooting bow at birds, one of which falls before him; quiver to lower left.

Provenance:
Ex BCD Collection, with handwritten tag stating, "T/ne ex Thess., Jan. 88, 3000 drs"
The BCD Collection was possibly the largest and most important private collection of Greek coinage ever assembled.  Over the course of five decades, the collector, known publicly by the initials BCD, acquired over 50,000 coins representing the major cities and regions of ancient Greece.  An accomplished numismatist, BCD studied not just the historical context but also the art and chronology of the coins, with some of the results of these studies eventually finding their way into the notes he provided for the catalogues of the sale of his coins.  Many of these published catalogues are now used as the standard references for the regions they cover.  A provenance to the BCD Collection is one of the most desirable that a Greek coin can possess.

Notes:
Dark green patina.  Slightly weathered surfaces. Scarce type. 
The reverse depicts the Thessalian hero and master archer Philoktetes, who inherited the bow and arrows of Herakles. Philoktetes was a participant of the Trojan War and the subject of Sophocles's play, Philoctetes.
 
Historical Notes:
As evidenced by his appearance on their coinage, Dionysos was widely worshipped in Lamia, an important fortified Thessalian city.  During the Lamian War (323-322 BC), which broke out in Greece after the death of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian regent Antipater found himself beseiged in Lamia by the Athenians and their allies.  Because of the strong defensive walls of the city, the siege was unsuccessful, and when Macedonian reinforcements finally arrived, Antipater escaped and rallied his forces to defeat the Athenians the following year at Krannon.