Ancient Greek drachm Late 5th-mid 4th century Thessaly, Pharsalos Choice very fine

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Epi-, magistrate.
Obv: helmeted head of Athena, decorated with griffin on bowl, to the right; in left field: E.
Rev: Φ Α Ρ Σ (partially retrograde); warrior on horseback to the right, wearing Boiotian helmet, chiton and chlamys, brandishing lagobolon above his head; below: EΠI.
Ref: BCD Thessaly II 651 var. (these dies before initials engraved on reverse die). Ex Spink 331 (2017), lot 42. From the David Freedman collection.
An extremely rare variety. Old cabinet tone.

Thessalian horses were famous in Ancient Greece and the Thessalian horsemen were known for their ability. Alexander the Great’s horse, Bucephalus, was from Thessalian stock.
This coin’s reverse shows a Thessalian horseman wielding a lagobolon, a sort of throwing stick mostly used in hunting. On the more common issue of this coin, he is wearing a petasos, a flat hat usually worn by sheperds. This coin shows the horseman wearing a Boiotian helmet. It is characterized by a large brim that forms a visor and a neck roll.
Another interesting thing about this coin are the characters below the horse: EΠI. Though this is a rare issue, there are examples known without them. From this follows that the characters must have been cut later. Why? Did the die-cutter, as an afterthought, wanted to sign his dies? We will probably never know.

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