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Session Five - Tuesday, February 14th 10:00am PST
Enlargement
1552 Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. Silver Tetradrachm (16.82 g), 317-289 BC
. Ca. 317-310 BC. Wreathed head of Arethusa left, surrounded by
three dolphins; below neck, [NK].
Reverse:
[
]YPAKO
I
[N] in exergue, charioteer, holding goad and reins, driving galloping quadriga left;
above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram. Ierardi 50 (O9/R28); SNG Manchester 496 (same dies); SNG ANS 633. Underlying luster present.
Extremely Fine
.
Estimate Value ....................................................................................................................................................................... $2,000 - 2,500
From The Herbert & Aphrodite Rubin Collection; Purchased from an uncertain NFA auction in the 1970s-1980s, lot 124.
Agathokles spent much of his early career struggling against the Syracusan oligarchy known as the Six Hundred. Fearing his personal wealth and
popularity in the city, the Six Hundred sent him into exile, where he became a skilled mercenary commander. His new military strength and Car-
thaginian intervention paved the way for his return and appointment by the oligarchs as
strategos autokrator
("supreme general"), but in 317/16
BC, he championed the cause of democracy (cynically as it turned out) and overthrew the Six Hundred. This coin was struck in the years following
this coup and consciously looks back to older types used in democratic periods at Syracuse as a means of presenting a democratic façade while all
real power was increasingly concentrated in the hands of Agathokles.
Enlargement
1553 Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. Silver Tetradrachm (16.82 g), 317-289 BC
. Ca. 317-310 BC. Wreathed head of Arethusa left, surrounded by
three dolphins; below neck, NK.
Reverse:
YPAKO
I
N in exergue, charioteer, holding goad and reins, driving galloping quadriga left; above,
triskeles; in exergue, monogram. Ierardi 50 (O9/R28); SNG Manchester 496 (same dies); SNG ANS 633. Beautiful old cabinet toned.
Choice Very
Fine
.
Estimate Value ....................................................................................................................................................................... $1,500 - 2,000
The Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from A. H. Baldwin & Sons in 1979.
Enlargement
1554 Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. Electrum 50 Litrai (3.46 g), 317-289 BC
. Ca. 310-306/5 BC. Laureate head of Apollo left; behind, oil lamp.
Reverse:
-
, tripod-lebes; above, phiale. Jenkins grp. B, dies O12/R7; cf. SNG ANS 624-5 (same rev. die, diff. symbol); BMFA 448
(same obv. die); BMC 257 (same obv. die). Attractively toned. Edge smoothed, probably ex jewelry.
About Very Fine
.
Estimate Value .............................................................................................................................................................................$400 - 500
From the Hanbery Collection; Purchased from Dr. Arnold Saslow.