Looks like I won the one I really wanted! @medoraman I'll take you up on that catalog offer if that's still ok. Lucania, Metapontion AR Half Shekel. Punic occupation, circa 215-207 BC. Head of Athena to right wearing crested Corinthian helmet / Ear of barley with leaf to right; owl in flight above leaf, META to left. Robinson, Punic p. 50, 3; SNG ANS 549-50; Jameson 329; HN Italy 1634. 3.52g, 17mm, 7h. Mint State; beautiful iridescent cabinet tone. From the David Freedman Collection; Privately purchased from A. H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd., 18 September 2017.
Wow ! What a stunning coin & beautiful portrait of Athena, & the owl in flight gives it a touch of class . All that on a small flan .
Congratulations! I bet you'll be stunned by it in-hand. Knowing how Roma's pictures are relative to the coins in the flesh, it'll be even more iridescent and lustrous.
I cant wait to get it in hand and see it. It's the most I've ever spent on a single coin. I really like the punic wars history and this coin had it all for me in terms of history and quality both.
I've scored many fine coins from Roma, pictured below is one of my favorites, it came from E-Sale 59.
I agree with this assessment. I wondered about the Cleo I bought, but what in Roma pics looked like roughness of the surface was actually pretty toning. Roma is like CNG, most of the time the photos they show are the worst the coin will appear, not the best.
Wow! That makes me even more excited to get it then! I'm used to U.S. coins with glamor shots that the best the coins look are in the pictures.