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17 bid online at (800) 978-COIN (2646) |
Enlargement
1715 Sicily, Akragas. Silver Didrachm (8.58 g), ca. 495-480/78 BC. AKRA, eagle standing right. Reverse:Crab. Cf. Jenkins 9 (eagle right);
SNG ANS 945. Pleasing uniform antique cabinet toning. About Extremely Fine.
Estimated Value ............................................................................................................................................................... $2,000 - 2,500
Private purchase from Tom Cederlind.
1716 Sicily, Gela. Silver Didrachm (8.60 g), ca. 490/85-480/75 BC . Horseman galloping right, throwing spear. Reverse:CEΛAΣ , forepart of
man-headed bull right within circular incuse. Jenkins grp. Ib, 60 (O18/R26); SNG ANS 10 (same obv. die); SNG Lockett 759 (same rev. die). Nice
uniform old cabinet toning. Very Fine.
Estimated Value ...................................................................................................................................................................$1,000 - 1,200
Private purchase from Tom Cederlind.
EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY GELA SILVER TETRADRACHM
Enlargement
1717 Sicily, Gela. Silver Tetradrachm (17.22 g), ca. 480/75-475/0 BC. Charioteer driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike flying right,
crowning horses with wreath. Reverse:?ΕΛΑΣ, 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). Very
Rare. Overstruck. An exceptional specimen. Superb Extremely Fine.
Founded 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 Polyze-
los, but it was during his tyranny that the city began striking tetradrachms, replacing the earlier didrachms that had been the principal denom-
ination 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 uses the type from the city' s didrachm coinage, and depicts the forepart of the river-god Gelas. The
immediate impression when first looking at this particular coin is that the detail is exceptional, and that the dies were engraved by a wonder-
fully 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 con-
tracted 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.
Estimated Value ............................................................................................................................................................... $5,000 - 6,000
Private purchase from Tom Cederlind.