Asia Minor. Pisidia, Selge.
Stater, c. 370 BC. (Silver, 10.80g., 22.6mm). Two nude wrestlers grappling with each other; between them, ΕΥ; in exergue, palmette / ΣΤΛΕΓΕΥΣ Slinger standing right, with astragalos between his legs and triskeles to right. ACGC 1007. SNG Copenhagen 236. SNG von Aulock 5256 (this coin).

Selge and the nearby Pamphylian city of Aspendos were famous for their closely related stater coinages (in a few cases probably cut by the same engravers), which usually show a pair of wrestlers on the obverse, presumably referring to local games, and a slinger on the reverse: the area from which these staters came was famous for its slingers, who served as mercenaries in most of the armies of the period. This coin was once in the collection of Hans von Aulock, a member of a German aristocratic family from Silesia. He received training as a foreign trader and banker, and by 1941 was the head of Dresdner Bank branch in Istanbul. He was an anti-Nazi and when Turkey broke relations with Germany he preferred requesting asylum and being interned in Turkey than returning. He was soon released and became an advisor for Turkish banks. In 1952 he once again became the head of Dresdner Bank in Turkey. His collection of the coins of ancient Asia Minor was the finest ever formed and was dispersed after being published, well prior to his death in 1980. He also served as the mentor to the distinguished collector and scholar, the late E. Levante.

Grading/Status: A magnificent coin, beautifully toned and struck in high relief. The finest coin of Selge known. Good extremely fine.

Notes
Provenance:
Nomos Fixed Price List Winter-Spring 2009, 85.
Leu 83, 6 May 2002, 359.
Sotheby’s London, 5 July 1995, 82.
Bank Leu 38, 13 May 1986, 131.
Collection of H. S. von Aulock.