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  4. Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4

Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4

Date: 2025-01-14 15:00:00 (3 weeks from now)

Lots: 1152

Total starting: $ 3,093,540.00

In this auction, Numistats has matched 120 coins, providing AI-powered purchase recommendations and detailed analysis. View more.

Auction Summary

La subasta "Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4", programada para el 14 de enero de 2025, presenta una impresionante colección de 1152 lotes, destacando monedas de diversas épocas y regiones. Entre las piezas más notables se encuentra un estater de plata de Arkadia, datado entre 360-350 a.C., que muestra un magnífico retrato de Deméter y Hermes, con un precio estimado de 180,000 USD. También se destaca un denario de Bruto, famoso por conmemorar el asesinato de Julio César, que se ofrece por 150,000 USD, siendo considerado uno de los más icónicos de la numismática romana. Otro ejemplar notable es un estater de oro de Nektanebo II de Egipto, que representa un caballo y un collar jeroglífico, con un precio de 60,000 USD. Además, se presenta un dekadrachm de Siracusa, que es considerado uno de los más bellos de la antigüedad, con un precio de 60,000 USD. Estas monedas no solo son valiosas por su rareza y belleza, sino que también representan momentos significativos de la historia antigua, lo que las convierte en piezas de gran interés para coleccionistas y estudiosos.

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Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 61
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Good VF
SICILY, Gela. Circa 480/75-475/70 BC. AR Drachm (16mm, 4.25 g, 1h). Horseman, nude, holding javelin in right hand and placing left hand on horse’s head, riding right; linear and dotted ground lines below / Forepart of man-headed bull running right; ϹΕΛΟΙΟΝ above; all within incuse circle. Jenkins, Gela, Group IId, 188 (O51/R109); HGC 2, 368; Basel 283 (same dies); Jameson 577 (same dies); de Luynes 949 (same dies). Attractive iridescent tone, some porosity and minor marks, a touch off center. Good VF. Very rare.


From the collection of Major Anthony F. Milavic, USMC (Ret.). Ex G. Hirsch 173 (19 February 1992), lot 76; Numismatica Ars Classica 4 (27 February 1991), lot 38.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 62
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Kamarina. Circa 425-405 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 16.58 g, 9h). Athena, wearing long chiton, holding reins in both hands, driving galloping quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, presenting to Athena an open wreath held in both hands; in exergue, heron flying left / Bearded head of Herakles left, wearing lion skin; retrograde KAMAPI[NA-ION] to left. Westermark & Jenkins 138 (O32/R8 – this coin); HGC 2, 520 (same dies as illustration); SNG Lloyd 864–5 (same dies); BMC 9 (same dies); Gulbenkian 172 (same dies); Hirsch 326 (same dies); Hunterian 3 (same dies); McClean 2153 (same dies); Rizzo pl. V, 8 (same obv. die). Toned, some horn silver, cleaning scratches, some delaminations on reverse. VF.


From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection, purchased from Baldwin’s, 9 December 2011.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 63
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Near EF
SICILY, Katane. Circa 450-445 BC. AR Tetradrachm (30mm, 17.03 g, 2h). Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand and reins in both, driving slow quadriga right / Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath; KATANAIO-N around. Mirone 30–2; HGC 2, 566; SNG ANS 1241 (same obv. die); SNG Spencer 37 (same dies); Basel 326 (same rev. die); Rizzo pl. X, 11 (same obv. die). Old collection tone, hairline flan crack, minor flan flaw on obverse. Near EF. Well centered and struck from artistic dies on a broad flan.


From the Columbus Collection. Ex Numismatica Genevensis SA VII (27 November 2012), lot 144; Leu 77 (11 May 2000), lot 83.

The Sicilian city of Katane (modern Catania) was a Chalkidian colony founded from Naxos in 729 BC. Katane was located midway along the eastern coast of the island at the southern extremity of the slopes of Mount Aetna. Its fertile territory was coveted by neighboring Syracuse, and in 476 BC the Syracusan tyrant Hieron I removed the population of Katane to the inland city of Leontini. Katane was then given the name of Aetna and resettled with Syracusan citizens and a group of Dorian mercenaries. On the fall of the Sicilian tyrannies in the late 460s BC, the alien population was expelled and the former inhabitants of Katane returned from exile in Leontini to reclaim their city, which now reverted to its original name. It seems unlikely that any coinage was produced at Katane prior to the events of 476 BC, so any issues bearing the name of the Katanians must postdate the restoration of the original population in 461 BC.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 64
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Good VF
SICILY, Kephaloidion. Circa 307-305 BC. AR Drachm (18mm, 3.97 g, 11h). Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin; EK ΚΕΦΑΛΟΙΔΙ-[ON] to right and below / Bull butting right on tablet; AK monogram and [ΗΡ]ΑΚΛΕΙΩΤΑΝ above. Campana, Kephaloidion 1 (this coin referenced and illustrated); Jenkins, Coinages, p. 97, 1 = Basel 345 = CNS I p. 245 = Burnett, Enna 97 = S. Consolo Langher, “Gli HPAΚΛΕΙΩΤΑΝ EK ΚΕΦΑΛΟΙΔΙON” in Kokalos 7 (1961), 166 = E. Gabrici, “Alla ricerca della Solunto di Tucidide” in Kokalos 5 (1959), 21 (this coin); Triton XVI, lot 214 = Gemini IV, lot 33 = Leu 38, lot 23 = HGC 2, 641 ill. (same dies). Toned, some porosity, light deposits, scratches under tone, die break on reverse. Good VF. Extremely rare, one of only two known.


From the Michael Rogal Collection. Ex Triton XVII (7 January 2014), lot 42; A. D. Moretti Collection (Numismatica Ars Classica 13, 8 October 1998), lot 345.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 65
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Near EF
SICILY, Leontini. Circa 476-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 16.88 g, 9h). Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand and reins in left, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands / Head of roaring lion right; retrograde [Λ-E]-O-N-T-INON and four barley grains around. Maltese Period I, 17k (D4/R15) = Hermitage Sale I 56 (this coin); Boehringer, Münzgeschichte 2 (same obv. die); HGC 2, 661 (same obv. die as illustration); Dewing 619 (same dies); Gillet 436 (same obv. die); Rizzo pl. XXII, 4 (same obv. die). Old cabinet tone, a little verdigris, minor die wear on obverse. Near EF.


From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection. Ex Peus 294 (15 March 1978), lot 146; Hermitage Museum Collection (Schlessinger 11, 26 February 1934), lot 56.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 66
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Near EF
SICILY, Leontini. Circa 450-440 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 17.37 g, 10h). Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath / Head of roaring lion right; L-EO-NT-I-NO-[N] and four barley grains around. Maltese Period III, 55d (D18/R47 – this coin); Boehringer, Münzgeschichte 35 (same obv. die); HGC 2, 667; SNG Ashmolean 1782 (same dies); Dewing 625 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXIII, 5 (same obv. die). Toned, trace deposits, a little die wear. Near EF.


From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection. Ex Patrick H. C. Tan Collection (Gemini VII, 9 January 2011), lot 121.

Leontini was founded in 729 BC by settlers from Naxos, the first Greek colony in Sicily, which itself had been established just a few years earlier. In the first decade of the 5th century the city was captured by the tyrant Hippocrates of Gela whose successor, Gelon, transferred his seat of government to Syracuse in 485. Thereafter, Leontini usually remained within the Syracusan sphere of influence, though its 5th century coinage was on a considerable scale attesting the independent wealth of the community. A major political change took place in the late 460s — the expulsion of the tyrants and the restoration of democracy. This was reflected on the Leontine coinage by the introduction of new types featuring the head of Apollo on obverse and a lion’s head on reverse. Apollo was especially revered at Leontini, as he was at the mother city of Naxos where there was a famous sanctuary of Apollo Archegetes. The lion apparently represents a punning allusion to the city name. The surrounding barley-grains are indicative of the exceptional fertility of the Leontine territory and doubtless refer to the local worship of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 67
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: fine
SICILY, Leontini. Circa 450-440 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.04 g, 5h). Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath / Head of roaring lion right; LEO-N-T-I-NO-N and four barley grains around. Maltese Period III, 105 (D27/R81); Boehringer, Münzgeschichte 46 (same dies); HGC 2, 667; SNG ANS 245 (same dies); SNG Lockett 798 (same dies); Gulbenkian 218 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXIII, 7 (same dies). In NGC encapsulation 6290602-009, graded XF★, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 5/5, Fine Style.


Ex Mark & Lottie Salton Collection (Stack’s Bowers Galleries, 14 January 2022), lot 4119.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 68
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Good VF
SICILY, Leontini. Circa 425-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28.5mm, 17.22 g, 1h). Head of Apollo left, wearing laurel wreath / Head of roaring lion left; olive branch to upper right, LEONTI-N-ON and four barley grains around. Maltese Period IV, 152b (D39/R115) = Gillet 446 (this coin); Boehringer, Münzgeschichte 56 var. (lion right, no olive branch; same obv. die); HGC 2, 673 var. (symbol); SNG Ashmolean 1794 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 1061 (same dies); SNG München 557 (same dies); Ognina 109 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXIV, 6 (same dies). Lightly toned, some porosity. Good VF. Fine style. Rare issue with branch.


Ex Peus 349 (30 October 1996), lot 45; Charles Gillet (†1972) Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 69
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: EF
SICILY, Messana (as Zankle). Circa 500-493 BC. AR Drachm (23.5mm, 5.64 g). Dolphin left; DANKLE below; all within sickle-shaped harbor / Nine-part incuse square with scallop shell in center. Gielow Group 4, 40 (same obv. die); HGC 2, 766; SNG ANS 302; SNG Lloyd 1076; Basel 359; Boston MFA 285; Kraay & Hirmer 49; Rizzo pl. XXV, 4-5. Lovely old collection tone, a few tiny deposits, some cleaning marks under tone. EF. Great metal and strike.


From the Columbus Collection. Ex Friend of a Scholar Collection (Triton XIX, 5 January 2016), lot 40, purchased from Maison Platt, June 1987.

The colony of Zankle was founded by Cumaean and Euboean settlers in the eighth century BC on the straits of Messina. Its name, meaning "sickle", was taken from its important sickle-shaped harbor. The colony prospered and even founded its own colonies at Mylae and Himera. Zankle was soon overshadowed by Rhegion, though, whose tyrant, Anaxilas, seized the colony around 488 BC and renamed the city Messana, after Peloponnesian Messenia, whose colonists he settled in Zankle.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 70
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Messana (as Zankle). Circa 500-493 BC. AR Drachm (21mm, 5.19 g). Dolphin left; DANKLE below; all within sickle-shaped harbor / Nine-part incuse square with scallop shell in center. Gielow Group 4, 62 (same obv. die); HGC 2, 766; SNG ANS 302; SNG Lloyd 1076; Basel 359; Boston MFA 285; Kraay & Hirmer 49; Rizzo pl. XXV, 4–5. Iridescent tone, traces of find patina, edge split, granular surfaces. VF.


From the JTB Collection. Ex Gorny & Mosch 297B (10 October 2023), lot 1213.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 71
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Messana. 420-413 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25.5mm, 17.22 g, 11h). The nymph Messana, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving slow biga of mules left; MEΣΣAN-A above and to right, two dolphins confronted in exergue / Hare springing right; below, dolphin right; MEΣ-Σ-AN-IO-N around. Caltabiano Series XIV, 514 (D205’/R213); HGC 2, 791; SNG ANS 366 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 1076 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXVI, 8 var. (rev. type; same obv. die). Toned, minor marks, a few light scratches on edge. VF.


From the Henry A. Sauter Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 72
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Near EF
SICILY, Messana. 420-413 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.11 g, 6h). The nymph Messana, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand and reins in both, driving slow biga of mules right; MEΣΣ-ANA above and before / Hare springing right; below, dolphin right; MEΣΣ-A-NI-O-N around. Caltabiano Series XIV, 518 (D206/R215); HGC 2, 792; SNG ANS 356 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen 399 (same obv. die); SNG Lloyd 1097 (same obv. die); McClean 2394 (same dies). Light golden toning, underlying luster, minor edge split. Near EF. Well centered. A wonderful coin in hand.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 73
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Segesta. Circa 405/2-400 BC. AR Tetradrachm (28mm, 17.40 g, 3h). The hero Egestes, nude, standing right, cap slung over shoulder and chlamys over left arm, resting left foot on rock; EΓEΣTAIΩN to left; below, two hounds standing right at his feet, one sniffing the ground; small ithyphallic herm to lower right / Head of the nymph Segesta right, hair bound in ampyx and a star embroidered sakkos, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace with pendants; [ΣEΓEΣTAΞI]A to right, grain ear below. Hurter, Didrachmenprägung T8 (V4/R7); Lederer 6; HGC 2, 1108 (same dies as illustration); BMC 32 = Kraay & Hirmer 203 (same dies); Hirsch 523 (same dies); McClean 2555 (same dies); Regling, Kunstwerk 567 (same obv. die); Rizzo pl. LXII, 14 (same dies). Lightly toned, slight die shift and a little die wear on obverse, light scratch on reverse. VF. Wonderful style. Rare.


Segesta was the principal city of the Elymi in north-west Sicily. The Segestans wrote their Elymian language in Greek characters, as witnessed by their coins. They developed a traditional hostility with Selinos, in the pursuit of which they allied themselves with Athens in 418/7 BC (Thuc. 6. 6-8 and 46). In 409, Segesta passed into the Carthaginian sphere of influence in another attempt to combat the encroachments of Selinos. Carthage captured and sacked Selinos in that same year.

Although the most common denomination at Segesta was the didrachm, a few very rare and extremely accomplished tetradrachms were minted in about 400 with a remarkably detailed representation of a young huntsman. S. Hurter has maintained the traditional identification of this young man as Egestes, the legendary founder of the city, son of the Trojan maiden Segesta by the river-god Krimsos. Other plausible identifications are the hunter Krimsos or Pan, god of the hunt.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 74
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Segesta. Circa 405/2-400 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 16.62 g, 4h). The hero Egestes, nude, standing right, cap slung over shoulder and chlamys over left arm, resting left foot on rock; EΓEΣ[TAI]ΩN to left; below, two hounds standing right at his feet, one sniffing the ground; small ithyphallic herm to lower right / Head of the nymph Segesta right, hair bound in sakkos decorated with stars. Hurter, Didrachmenprägung T9k (V4/R8) = Basel 403 (this coin); Lederer 7; HGC 2, 1108; SNG ANS 646 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 1198 (same dies); Dewing 674 (same dies); Gulbenkian 241 = BMC 31 (same dies); Hunt IV 84 (same dies); Jameson 709 (same dies); de Luynes 1120 (same dies); Rizzo pl. LXII, 15 (same dies). Attractively toned, trace deposits, faint scratches, small area of weak strike, a little off center on reverse. VF. Rare.


Ex Peus 382 (26 April 2005), lot 73; A. D. Moretti Collection (Numismatica Ars Classica 13, 8 October 1998), lot 403.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 75
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Good VF
SICILY, Syracuse. The Gamoroi. Circa 500-490/86 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 16.57 g, 6h). Charioteer, holding reins in both hands, driving slow quadriga right; SVRA(koppa)O/SION in two lines above / Head of Arethousa left in incuse circle in center of quadripartite incuse square. Boehringer Series I, 13 (V9/R7); HGC 2, 1301; SNG ANS 3 (same obv. die); Bement 443 (same dies); Hunterian 2 (same dies); Gillet 523 (same obv. die); Kraay & Hirmer 72 (same obv. die); Rizzo pl. XXXIV, 4 (same dies). Old collection tone, a few scrapes and scratches under tone on reverse. Good VF.


From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection, purchased from Frank Kovacs, 1 November 1991.

The magnificent artistic flowering in Sicily in the 5th century BC, exemplified by the matchless coinage of Syracuse, originated in times of great strife. When the first colonists from Greece arrived on the fertile island in the 8th century BC, they found competitors in both the aboriginal inhabitants, the Sicels, Sicani, and Elymi, and the Phoenician colonists who established Carthage at about the same time. The social stresses set up by these conflicts prepared the way for the establishment of various tyrannies. Hippokrates of Gela was the first of the well known tyrants, and his son Gelon founded the greatest of the Sicilian courts at Syracuse in 485 BC. By the middle of the century, the situation began to resemble that of Renaissance Italy, where the princes engaged in continual warfare between themselves, while engaging the services of the finest artists and craftsmen of their time. Such fighting required significant amounts of money to hire mercenaries, and the increasing cultural sophistication of the courts encouraged experimentation in all of the arts, including the minor ones – the result was the patronizing of some of the most talented coin engravers in history.

In Syracuse and surrounding cities, the anonymous “Damareteion Master” and the “Maestro della foglia” were followed by their students and successors who proudly signed their work, such artists as Choirion, Euainetos, Eumenos, Exakestidas, Herakleidas, and others. These masters developed new ways of viewing the world through art, breaking the static forms of Classic art and developing new methods of portraying motion and life in miniature. The silver tetradrachm was the prefered mode of expression, being large enough for the expression of free-ranging talents and also being minted in vast quantities to finance the expensive operations of the Greek hegemons. Even more remarkable were the large silver dekadrachms of Syracuse, which have become universal symbols of Greek numismatic art. Despite the emphasis on the great masterpieces, even the smallest of the silver fractions received the attentions of the masters, and the infrequent issues of gold likewise.

Syracuse commenced its silver coinage at the end of the sixth century BC with an issue of tetradrachms on the Attic standard of about 17.2 grams. These coins are attributed to the Gamoroi, an oligarchic body of aristocrats who battled outsiders, and each other, for control of civic and financial affairs. The obverse features a charioteer driving a walking quadriga while the reverse originally bore an incuse square divided into four compartments, which quickly gave way to the design seen below on lot 75, a swastika-pattern incuse with a circle at its center bearing a female head to left. This is certainly the nymph Arethousa, sacred to the spring of Ortygia which provided Syracuse its pure water. These designs set the paradigm for a century of Syracusan coinage, although the head of Arethousa would soon outgrow the confines of the small incuse circle to occupy most of the reverse, surrounded by frolicking dolphins.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 76
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: Near EF
SICILY, Syracuse. Gelon I. 485-478 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25.5mm, 17.46 g, 6h). Struck circa 480 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand and reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike, wearing long chiton, walking right, holding wreath in right hand and placing left hand on rearmost horse’s head / Head of Arethousa left, wearing pearl tainia and linear and pearl necklaces; four dolphins and ΣV-RA-KO-ΣION around. Boehringer Series IV, 48 (V27/R31); HGC 2, 1305; SNG München 922 (same dies); Jameson 1905 (same dies); Nanteuil 320 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXXIV, 14 (same dies). Lightly toned, a little die rust on obverse. Near EF. Well centered and struck on a broad flan. Lovely archaic style.


From the Columbus Collection. Ex Triton VI (14 January 2003), lot 105.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 77
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: EF
SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron I. 478-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (23mm, 17.48 g, 7h). Struck circa 478-475 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left, driving quadriga right; above, Nike, wearing long chiton, flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands / Head of Arethousa right, wearing pearl tainia and necklace; ΣVRA-KOΣION and four dolphins around. Boehringer Series VIIIb, 172 (V75/R120); HGC 2, 1306; Randazzo 339–41 (same dies). Beautiful old cabinet tone, with light iridescence, minor flan flaw on reverse. EF.


Ex Rockefeller University / Dr. Alfred E. Mirsky Collection (Gemini VII, 9 January 2011), lot 153; Ars Classica XVI (3 July 1933), lot 669; Ars Classica XV (2 July 1930), lot 327.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 78
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: BC
SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron I. 478-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (25mm, 17.43 g, 3h). Struck circa 475-470 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand, reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike, wearing long chiton, flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands / Head of Arethousa right, wearing pearl tainia and necklace; four dolphins and ΣΥΡ-ΑΚΟ-ΣΙΟΝ (partially retrograde) around. Boehringer Series XIId, 348 (V171/R244); HGC 2, 1306; SNG ANS 112. Pleasing old collection tone. In NGC encapsulation 6631349-001, graded AU★, Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5, die shift.


Ex Armand Trampitsch Collection (Vinchon, 13 November 1986), lot 90.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 79
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron I. 478-466 BC. AR Dekadrachm (33mm, 43.07 g, 8h). ‘Damareteion’ series. Struck circa 470-466 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand and reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike, wearing long chiton, flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in her extended hands; in exergue, lion advancing right / Head of Arethousa right, wearing laurel wreath, hoop earring with single pendant, and pearl necklace, enclosed within linear circle; ΣV-RAK-[O]ΣIO-N and four dolphins swimming clockwise around. Boehringer Series XIIe, 378.3 (V193/R267); HGC 2, 1297 (same dies as illustration); Hirsch 577 (same dies); Hunt I 64 (same dies). Toned, die break and chisel cuts on reverse, minor cuts and bumps on edge. Near VF. Very rare.


From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection, purchased from Dr. Arnold Saslow, August 1986. Ex Virgil M. Brand Collection (Part 3, Sotheby’s Zurich, 9 June 1983), lot 30; Raffaele Garrucci Collection (J. Hirsch XXXIV, 5 May 1914), lot 186; Theodor Prowe Collection (Part III, Egger XL, 2 May 1912), lot 414.

The story of the Damareteion coinage has its source in a passage in Diodorus (XI 26.3), that relates to the events following the defeat of the Carthaginians by the Syracusans after the battle of Himera in 479 BC. In the wake of their defeat, the Carthaginians expected harsh treatment by their foes, but Gelon, tyrant of Syracuse, imposed quite favorable terms upon them, supposedly at the behest of his wife, Damarete. In response, the Carthaginians are said to have presented Damarete with a crown of gold valued (or weighing) at a hundred talents, and from this gift was struck a coin, called the Damareteion, that weighed ten drachms on the Attic standard. The identification of the coin in question was one of the great mysteries of numismatics, due to the apparent contradictions in the story: the crown was said to be of gold, but the weight of the coin struck from it was given in Attic drachms, which implied a silver, not gold, coin. We know the metal of the coin must have been silver, as Syracuse apparently had no gold until many years after the event. Among the silver coinage, however, there is a suitable candidate that is known to have been struck relative to the time frame of the battle of Himera: the dekadrachms of Quadriga/Arethusa type. The appearance of these impressive coins was unprecedented at the time, and their style of such superior quality, that it is certain that they commemorated a particular, special event. Thus, these dekadrachms came to be known as the ‘Damareteion’ coinage, and their engraver labelled the ‘Damareteion Master.’ These dekadrachms were accompanied by a series of tetradrachms that featured the exact same iconography and style and are regarded as masterpieces themselves, only on a smaller scale.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVIII – Sessions 1-4 . 80
2025-01-14 (3 weeks from now)
Grade: VF
SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron I. 478-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 17.30 g, 4h). ‘Damareteion’ series. Struck circa 470-466 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in right hand, reins in both, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike, wearing long chiton, flying right, crowning horses with open wreath held in both hands / Head of Arethousa right, wearing pearl tainia, single-pendant earring, and linear necklace; four dolphins and ΣΛ-RΑ-ΚΟΣΙ-ΟΝ around. Boehringer Series XIIe, 387 var. (V–/R275 [unlisted obv. die]); HGC 2, 1308 corr. (Boehringer 387, 388, and 391E of standard style); Du Chastel 64 (same rev. die); Gulbenkian 256 = Jameson 755 (same rev. die); Rizzo pl. XXXV, 9 (same rev. die); Auctiones AG 24, lot 76 (same dies); NAC 126, lot 38 (same rev. die [hammer CHF 85,000]) = Gemini VII, lot 157 (same rev. die [hammer $60,000]). Toned, a few light marks, minor doubling on obverse. VF. An important issue in the evolution of Syracuse tetradrachms. Extremely rare, one of only seven coins known from this reverse die, four of which are in public collections.


From the Jonathan K. Kern Collection, with proceeds being donated to charity.

This fascinating issue represents a landmark in the series of Syracuse tetradrachms. With the advent of the Damaretion coinage, the master engraver introduced a new style that progressed the art of the coins forward, from the static archaized style that had dominated the coinage into a more realistic classical form that was beginning to appear in coinage throughout Sicily and beyond. Although the present issue lacks the salient features of the core Damaretion coinage, the lion in the exergue on the obverse and a laureate head of Arethousa enclosed in a linear circle on the reverse, the die links that Boehringer identified in his corpus clearly links it to the end of the famed series. The obverse and reverse here reflect a return to the standard types that had been used since the early 5th century, but the style is clearly that which had been introduced by the Damaretion master, which is most notable in the presentation of Arethousa. Her static features have been replaced with a serene countenance, with a profile eye prominently displaying her pupil, and her hair flows in a natural, fluid form. This new presentation of Arethousa persisted in the coinage beyond the Damaretion series, and soon other engravers began to experiment with their own interpretations of her form, culminating in the famed period of the "signing artists," whose work exemplified the pinnacle of classical art. In sum, this issue is the first presentation of the standard Syracuse tetradrachm type in classical style.