Bithynian Kingdom - Nikomedes III - Tetradrachm

120-92 BC. Obv: diademed head of Nicomedes I right. Rev: BA???E?? E???ANOY? NIKOMH??? (sic) downwards to right and left of Zeus standing left, holding wreath and sceptre, eagle left on thunderbolt above O???? monogram in centre field; laurel branch upright in left field, blundered date T? below (local year 190"). RecGen 40.75 and plate XXXIII, 4 (same dies); Walcher de Moltheim 1848a and plate XIV; Waddington 601; Wroth 26 in NC 1891. See Wildwinds.com (this coin"). 16.4 grams. . Property of a London gentleman. In the Numismatic Chronicle of 1891, pp. 130-131, when describing the British Museum example of this very rare coin, Warwick Wroth wrote, 'This curious tetradrachm ... resembles in type and style the coins of Nicomedes II, and was probably struck in his reign. The fillet-border probably copied from Seleucid coins and the symbol of the palm on the reverse differentiate it, however, from other tetradrachms of the Bithynian kings. It is further remarkable for having the blundered legend NIKOMH??? and the impossible date T?... M. Waddington suggests that T? is blundered for the date H?, i.e. 180 of the Bithynian era, corresponding to 118-117 BC.' A few examples are known in public collections (British Museum and Paris) and the Walcher de Moltheim example was sold in 1895 (present whereabouts not known").
Condition Report: Good very fine. Extremely rare.