10 / 184
1008
Bruttium, Kroton. Silver Nomos (8.02 g), ca. 530-500 BC. QPO, Tripod with legs terminating in lion’s feet,
serpents rising from bowl. Rev. Incuse tripod as obverse. (Gorini 4; Attianese 1; SNG ANS 228; SNG Lloyd
591; HN Italy 2075). Very attractive cabinet toned. Nearly extremely fine.
$ 3,500
It still remains unclear as to why the distinctive incuse type coinage developed in Magna Graecia during the Archaic period. Most
modern explanations have tended to be unsatisfactory or problematic. Some have suggested that it may have been introduced
because the thin-flanned coins could (supposedly) be stacked more easily while others have claimed a need to obliterate the types of
imported foreign coin, although there is little evidence for such early importation. Still others have claimed a connection between
the technique and Pythagorean philosophical views. The suggestion that coin production among the incuse issuing cities was
influenced by local traditions of repoussé metalwork is perhaps the most convincing of the proposed explanations.
1009
Sicily, Selinos. Silver Tetradrachm (17.28 g), ca. 450-440 BC.
S
E
L
-IN-[ONTION], Artemis, holding reins,
driving quadriga left; beside her, Apollo standing, drawing bow. Rev.
S
-E
L
I-?-[I]O
S
, Selinos walking left,
holding phiale over canopied altar and laurel branch; on base of altar, rooster standing left; behind, selinon
leaf above bull standing left on basis. (Schwabacher 10 (Q3/S10); SNG ANS 691 (same dies)). Die-break
on obverse, lightly toned. Very fine.
$ 3,000
ex Cederlind 141 (19 December 2006), lot 26.