SICILY, Syracuse. Hiketas II. 287-278 BC. AV Hemistater – Drachm (16mm, 4.24 g, 3h). Struck circa 279/8 BC. Head of Persephone left, wearing wreath of grain ears, single-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ to left, cornucopia to right / Nike, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast biga right; fibula above, Θ below, EΠI IKETA in exergue. Buttrey, Morgantina 35 (dies 4/G); BAR Issue 41; HGC 2, 1277; SNG ANS 777 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 798 (same dies); Hunterian 184 (same dies); Prospero 192 (this coin). Light die wear on obverse, minor double strike on reverse. Good VF.
From the Gerald F. Borrmann (Northern California Gentleman) Collection. Ex Prospero Collection (New York Sale XXVII, 4 January 2012), lot 192; Foreign Amateur Collection (Glendining, 13 December 1963), lot 181.
Little is known of Hiketas beyond his coinage, but Buttrey pieces together a history based on the numismatic evidence. Following his defeat of Phintias, tyrant of Akragas, Hiketas set out against the Carthaginians. This campaign ended in disaster at the Terias river, northwest of Syracuse. Buttrey, based on his die analysis, concludes that this gold issue was struck very hurriedly towards the end of the reign of Hiketas, and theorizes that this series was issued to pay for his Carthaginian campaign.
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