THESSALY, Pherai
AE Trichalkon. 8.98g, 21.1mm
MINTED: THESSALY, Pherai, circa 404-369 BC
REF: Rogers 511; BCD Thessaly I 1303; BCD Thessaly II 687.2; HGC 4, 564 (R1)
OBVERSE: Head of nymph Hypereia facing slightly left.
REVERSE: [ΦΕΡ]ΑΙ ΟΝ, water fountain right in the form of lion’s head.
 
Provenance:
Ex BCD Collection, tag noting "V. ex Thess., Nov. 1991, SFr. 100"
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:
Red brown patina.  Well-struck and detailed reverse.  A rare and unusual bronze.  
The obverse depicts the facing head of Hypereia, the eponymous nymph of Pherai's Hypereia Krini (Fountain of Hypereia), a sacred spring located in the center of the city that was famed in ancient times.   
 
Historical Notes:
In mythological tradition, Herakles stopped at the Thessalian city of Pherai on his way to complete his 8th Labour, the capture of the flesh-eating Mares of Diomedes.  While at Pherai, Herakles helped its king Admetos by going into the underworld and wrestling with Thanatos (Death) to force him to return Admetos's wife Alkestis back to the land of the living.  
The historical city of Pherai boasted fortified circuit walls, an akropolis, and temples dedicated to the Thessalian goddess Ennodia, Zeus Thaulios, and the Dioskouroi. Pherai became the most prominent city in Thessaly in the course of the 4th century BC, when its tyrant Jason (390-370 BC) put together a force of 6,000 mercenaries and seized control of the Thessalian League, making himself one of the most powerful men in Greece.