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24
Sicily, Entella. Silver Tetradrachm (16.97 g), ca. 300-289 BC. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion’s skin
headdress. Rev. Horse’s head right; behind, palm tree. Jenkins 317 (O101/R261); SNG Lloyd 1642; Basel
564; de Luynes 1449. Boldly struck with luster still present. A superb example.
Nearly Mint State.
$1,500
From the Dionysus Collection.
The Punic inscription on this coin names “the People of the Camp” and leaves no doubt about its use to pay the numer-
ous foreign (primarily Italic) mercenaries that swelled the armies of Carthage during its conflict with the Greek cit-
ies for dominance on Sicily. “People of the Camp” issues are usually attributed to Entella, a frequent stronghold of
Campanian mercenaries in the fourth and third centuries BC. The obverse of the coin features a depiction of Herak-
les drawn from the popular tetradrachms of Alexnder the Great - a type widely accepted by foreign mercenaries through-
out the Mediterranean world - while the reverse features the head of a horse and a palm tree. The palm tree (
phoin-
ix
in greek) alludes to the Phoenician origin of the Punic peoples of North Africa while the horse refers to the somewhat
bizarre tradition that Carthage was founded by the Tyrian queen Dido on a hill where the head of a horse was unearthed.
25
Sicily, Gela. Silver Tetradrachm (17.30 g), ca. 480-475 BC. Charioteer driving slow quadriga right; above,
Nike flying right, crowning horses with wreath. Rev. C-
E
-
L
-
AS
, forepart of man-headed bull to right.
Jenkins grp. II, 104 (O32/R59); Randazzo 19 (same dies); SNG ANS 22 (same dies); SNG Ashmolean
1727 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 251 (same dies); Jameson 580 (same dies). Well struck and free from
the porosity that usually accompanies this popular issue. Delicately toned.
Choice Very Fine.
$2,500
From the Dionysus Collection.
Ex Roma E3 (30 November 2013), lot 49.
Found by colonists from Rhodes and Crete in 688 BC, Gela was located on the south-eastern coastal plain of Sicily along the banks
of the river Gela, from which it reaped a fertile soil and bountiful harvests. By the early fifth century, the wealth generated from
its hinterland allowed the city’s early tyrants to expand militarily at the expense of its neighbors, and Gela soon dominated several
cities, amongst them Leontinoi, Naxos, Zankle-Messana and Syracuse. The tyrant Gelon, after conquering Syracuse, moved there,
leaving his brother Hieron I in charge of Gela. After Gelon’s death in 478 BC, Hieron took control of Syracuse and left the city of
Gela to Polyzelos. Little is known of Polyzelos, but it was during his tyranny that the city began striking tetradrachms, replacing the
earlier didrachms that had been the principal denomination in use at Gela. The charioteer on the obverse is copied from Syracuse,
but shows the Charioteer of Delphi, one of the most well-known bronze statues from antiquity and which Polyzelos dedicated to
Apollo of Delphi in order to celebrate the victory of his chariot in the Pythian Games of either 478 or 474. The reverse reuses the
type from the city’s didrachm coinage, and depicts the forepart of the river-god Gelas. The immediate impression when first look-
ing at this particular coin is that the detail is exceptional, and that the dies were engraved by a truly skilled artist. Indeed, the dies used
to strike this coin are the first of the series, so it stands to reason that the artist was perhaps contracted by Polyzalos himself, who
sought out the finest masters in order to commemorate both his rule over his city and his Pythian victory with a new denomination.