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ATTICA, Athens. Circa 454-404 BC. AR Tetradrachm(24mm, 17.20 g, 2h).
Helmeted head of Athena right, with frontal eye / Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind; all within incuse square. Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597. Good VF, toned. Attractive early style.
This tetradrachm belongs among the earlier period of the “frontal eye” issues of the mid-late 5th century. The palmette is still delicate, as is the general style of the owl, and the incuse is rather deep and abruptly transitions to the flat surface.Leo
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Bithynia, Herakleia Pontika AR TetradrachmIn the name and types of Lysimachos. Circa 288/7-282/1 BC.
Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon。
Athena Nikephoros seated to left, resting left arm on shield, transverse spear in background; ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to right, ΛΥΣΙΜΑXΟΥ crowned by Nike to left, HP monogram below throne, club in exergue.
SNG Stancomb 822; Thompson 178; Müller 365; HGC 7, 1750j.
17.04g, 28mm, 12h.
Good Very Fine.Leo
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Bruttium, Kaulonia (c.525-500 BC), AR Stater7.70g, Apollo walking right, holding branch in raised right hand, his left extended and on which daimon runs right, stag on base before, its head turned back, annulet in right field, kav, rev. incuse of obverse type (cf. SNG ANS 155), toned, very fine.Leo
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Bruttium, Kroton, c. 480-430 BC, Stater6.88g, 20mm, 5h
ϘPO (retr.), tripod; crab at left.,
Rv. Incuse tripod; dolphin at right.
HNItaly 2100; SNG ANS 280. Rare. Leo
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Bruttium, Rhegion, 415-387 B.C., Drachm 14mm, 3.89 grams
Reference: Sear 502; B.M.C.1.38
Lion's scalp facing.
PHΓINON, Laureate head of Apollo right, olive-sprig behind.
"Dionysios I, after concluding a peace with the Carthaginians, went about securing his power in the island of Sicily. His troops, however, rebelled against him and sought help from, among others, the city of Rhegion (Diod. Sic. 14.8.2). In the ensuing campaigns, Dionyios I proceeded to enslave the citizens of Naxos and Katane, with whom the Rhegians shared a common history and identity (Diod. Sic. 14.40.1). This association was a source of anger and fear for the inhabitants of Rhegion. The Syracusan exiles living there also encouraged the Rhegians to go to war with Syracuse (Diod. Sic. 14.40.3). The overarching strategy of Dionysios I included extending his power into Italy by using Rhegion as a stepping stone to the rest of the peninsula. In 387 BC, after a siege that lasted eleven months, the Rhegians, on the brink of starvation, surrendered to Dionysus. Indeed, we are told that by the end of the siege, a medimnos of wheat cost about five minai (Diod. Sic. 14.111.2). Strabo remarks that, following Dionysios' capture of the city, the Syracusan “destroyed the illustrious city” (Strabo 6.1.6).
The next decade or so of the history of Rhegion is unclear, but sometime during his reign, Dionysios II, who succeeded his father in 367 BC, rebuilt the city, giving it the new name of Phoibia (Strabo 6.1.6). Herzfelder argues that this issue was struck by Dionysios II of Syracuse after he rebuilt the city, and dates it to the period that Dionysios II is thought to have lived in the city. Due to civil strife at Syracuse, Dionysios II was forced to garrison Region, but was ejected from the city by two of his rivals circa 351 BC (Diod. Sic. 16.45.9).
The coin types of Rhegion, founded as a colony of Chalcis, are related to its founding mythology. Some of the earliest tetradrachms of the city, from the mid-5th century BC, depict a lion’s head on the obverse, and a seated figure on the reverse. J.P. Six (in NC 1898, pp. 281-5) identified the figure as Iokastos, the oikistes (founder) of Rhegion (Diod. Sic. 5.8.1; Callimachus fr. 202). Head (in HN), suggested Aristaios, son of Apollo. Iokastos was one of six sons of Aiolos, ruler of the Aeolian Islands. All of the sons of Aiolos secured their own realms in Italy and Sicily, with Iokastos taking the region around Rhegion. Aristaios, born in Libya, discovered the silphium plant, and was the patron of beekeepers (mentioned by Virgil), shepherds, vintners, and olive growers. He also protected Dionysos as a child, and was the lover of Eurydike. The replacement of the seated figure type with the head of Apollo circa 420 BC also suggests the figure could be Aristaios. An anecdote from the first-century BC geographer Strabo (6.1.6 and 6.1.9), which connects Rhegion’s founding to the orders of the Delphic Oracle and Apollo, as the reason for the advent of the new type could be simply serendipitous.
Different theories exist for the lion’s head on the coins of Rhegion. The lion’s head (or mask as it is sometimes described) first appeared on the coinage of Rhegion at the start of the reign of Anaxilas, in about 494 BC. E.S.G. Robinson, in his article “Rhegion, Zankle-Messana and the Samians” (JHS vol. 66, 1946) argues that the lion was a symbol of Apollo. He makes a comparison to the coinage of the nearby city of Kaulonia, “At Kaulonia Apollo’s animal was the deer; if at Rhegion it was the lion, the early appearance and persistence of that type is explained. The lion is a certain, though infrequent, associate of Apollo at all periods.” The link, he suggests, is that the lion was associated with the sun, as was Apollo himself.
The lion’s head could also relate to the exploits of Herakles, who had some significance for the city. The extant sources tell us that Herakles stopped at southern Italy near Rhegion on his return with the cattle of Geryon (Diod. Sic. 4.22.5). It was here that supposedly a bull broke away from the rest of the herd and swam to Sicily (Apollod. 2.5.10). Though but a passing reference in Apollodorus, it is very possible that the Rhegians venerated Herakles. Indeed, Herakles was a very important figure throughout the entire area. Dionysios of Halicarnassus says that “in many other places also in Italy [besides Rome] precincts are dedicated to this god [Herakles] and altars erected to him, both in cities and along highways; and one could scarcely find any place in Italy in which the god is not honoured” (I.40.6). As the skin of the Nemean Lion was one of the main attributes of Herakles, the lion’s head may refer to him through metonymic association."Leo
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Bruttium, Terina, AR Nomos, circa 420 - 400 B.C.Weight: 7.65 grams
Diameter: 18.5 mm
Obverse: Head of nymph Terina facing left, wearing ampyx
and low cut sphendone; small Π behind neck.
Reverse: Nike seated left on cippus holding wreath on extended right hand,
left hand resting behind her on cippus, small Π to right of cippus.
Ref: Regling 62; Holloway & Jenkins 60; SNG Copenhagen 2006;
SNG Munchen 1734-5; Weber 1149 Leo
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CAMPANIA, Neapolis. Circa 300-275 BC. AR NomosCAMPANIA, Neapolis. Circa 300-275 BC. AR Nomos (19mm, 7.21 g, 11h).
Head of nymph right; kantharos behind, XAPI below / Man-headed bull walking right; above, Nike flying right, placing wreath on bull's head; K below. Sambon 467b; HN Italy 569; SNG ANS 356 (same rev. die). Near VF, bright iridescent toning, light roughness on obverse.Leo
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Islands off Attica. Aegina circa 550-456 BC, Stater21 mm., 12,27 g.
Sea-turtle, head turned sideways, with row of dots down back, and an additional dot on each side at front / Incuse square divided by broad bands into a conventional pattern of five compartments.
very fine
HGC 6, 435; Meadows Group IIIa; Milbank pl. 1, 13; SNG Lockett 1970.Leo
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Italy, Lucania, ThuriumAR Stater, 7.79g. 22mm. c.410-400 B.C.
Engraver, Phrygillos (?). Head of Athena to right wearing crested helmet decorated with Skylla; "phi" in field to right. Rv. Bull pawing ground with head down to right; fish in exergue. SNG Oxford 871. HN 1782; a few small marks and some small metal breaks in front of face. Toned and of fine style
Ex: Numismatica Ars Classica, Zurich, Auction O, 2004, lot 1157.
Located on a fertile plain on the Gulf of Taranto near the site of Sybaris, Thurium was founded by Achaeans late in the 8th Century B.C. At the peak of its success, Sybaris had amassed a population nearly equal to that of Athens, had a six-mile defensive wall, and according to Strabo had as many as 25 cities and four native peoples under its authority. However, the thriving settlement was destroyed by Croton in 510 B.C. After two attempts to establish a new foundation on the ruined site that had been thwarted by Croton, a fresh attempt was made in the period 446 to 444/3 B.C. This remarkable undertaking was originally conceived by descendants of the Sybarites, but when the Crotonites opposed that enterprise as well, help was sought from Athens. Pericles came to their aid by sending colonists whom he had gathered from throughout Greece to participate in what he envisioned as a Panhellenic experiment in colonization. With financial and military support from Athens, the colonists set up their city, drawing on the talents of Protagoras of Abdera for its civil laws, Lampon of Athens for its sacred laws and Hippodamus of Miletus for its city-plan. Even the historian Herodotus is counted among the talented participants. As Thurium began to flourish its colonists from Greece soon ejected their co-founding Sybarites (who established another city on the river Traeis) and eventually distanced themselves even from their benefactor Athens. The city continued to prosper even after it came under Roman control following the defeat of Tarentum in 272. During the Second Punic War, Thurium was still a regional power and it held out as a Roman ally until the spring of 212, when resisting the Carthaginians became impossible. It was the last Greek city to fall to Hannibal, yet it also was the last city outside of Bruttium to remain in his camp. This was not appreciated by the Romans who consequently added its land to their ager publicus and, in 194 or 193, by which time the site was largely abandoned, founded in its place the Latin colony of Copia. Thurian coinage is substantial, and is renowned for the fine artistry of its dies. The head of Athena as an obverse type clearly is inspired by the coinage of Athens. The standing bull on the city’s early coins likely was derived from the old badge of Sybaris, yet the charging version of that animal may refer to the local spring Thuria, from which the new foundation took its name. On this example the bowl of Athena’s helmet is vividly decorated with Scylla, whose ribbed serpent-tail and dog foreparts are particularly well-engraved. Athena’s face retains the severe dignity of even the earliest issues of Thurium, making it a fine example of Attic-inspired art. The bull, as on all Thurian issues of this era, is fully animated with its tail lashing as it charges forth to engage some unseen foe.
Ex: A.D.M. Collection Leo
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KINGS of THRACE, Macedonian. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AR DrachmKINGS of THRACE, Macedonian. Lysimachos. 305-281 BC. AR Drachm (19mm, 4.34 g, 1h). Ephesos mint. Struck 294-287 BC. Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon / Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, spear behind; tripod to inner left, Greek Z in exergue. Thompson 170 var. (monogram); Müller –; CNG 75, lot 114 corr. = Gorny & Mosch 152, lot 1287 (same obv. die); Numismatica Genevensis SA VII, lot 165 = Gorny & Mosch 155, lot 59. Superb EF, toned.Leo
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KINGS OF THRACE. Lysimachos, 305-281 BC. TetradrachmSilver, 31.5 mm, 17.06 g, 12 h
Lampsakos, c. 297-281.
Diademed head of Alexander the Great to right with horn of Ammon over his ear.
Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ Athena seated to left on throne, leaning her left elbow on her shield and holding Nike, crowning the king's name, in her right; behind, transverse spear; inner left, monogram over crescent with points to left.
Müller 396. SNG France 2545. Thompson 61 var. (the monogram appears as 58).
Well centered on a broad flan. Slightly wavy flan with some bangs and scratches, otherwise, good very fine.Leo
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LOKRIS, Lokri Opuntii. Circa 370-360 BC. AR Stater21mm, 12.19 g, 12h
Wreathed head of Demeter left；
Ajax advancing right, holding sword and shield decorated with serpent; Phrygian helmet below.
BCD Lokris 14 (same rev. die). Good VF, toned, small edge bump at top of reverse.
From the Deyo Collection.Leo
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Lokris. Locri Opuntii circa 360 BC. Stater AR22mm., 11,96g.
Head of Persephone to left, hair wreathed with three leaves of wheat, wearing necklace and a triple drop earring / OΠON-TIΩN; Ajax advancing to right, holding a sword in right hand and a shield decorated with griffin or a snake in left, below, helmet and spear.
extremely fine
BMC 18; McClean 5428
This wonderful head of Persephone reminds us of Euainetos and his Syracusan Arethusa heads. Ajax on reverse (ΑΙΑΣ Ο ΛΟΚΡΟΣ) was son of Oileus, the king of Locris. He was called the "lesser" or "Locrian" Ajax to distinguish him from Ajax the Great, son of Telamon. The Opuntian Locrians worshiped Ajax as their national hero, and so great was their faith in him that when they drew up their army in battle, they always left one place open for him, believing that, although invisible to them, he was fighting for and among them.Leo
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Lucania, Heraclea. Circa 334-330 BC. AR Nomos7.46 g, 7h
Obv: Helmeted head of Athena
Rx: Herakles standing facing holding lion skin and bow in left arm, club in right, being crowned by Nike
VF, struck with worn obverse die. beautiful style.
Van Keuren 83; HN Italy 1384v jug to rt.
Ex Frank Robinson 2012Leo
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Lucania, Metapontum NomosCirca 340-330, AR 21.5mm., 7.91g. Helmeted head of Leukippos r.; in l. field, lion head r. Rev. Barley ear of seven grains, leaf to l.; club above leaf, AMI below. Johnston class B, 2.3. Historia Numorum Italy 1575.
Finally, I got such a big flan Metapontion Leukippos Nomos~
Leo
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Lucania, Paestum, c. 218-201 BC. Æ Quadrans16mm, 3.65g, 9h
Head of Poseidon r.; three pellets behind. R/ Dolphin r.; three pellets above, palm below. Crawford 6/2; HNItaly 1197. Green patina, VFLeo
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LUCANIA, Sybaris. Circa 550-510 BC. AR Nomos28.5mm, 7.97 g, 12h
Bull standing left, head right; ¨µ in exergue / Incuse bull standing right, head left. S&S Class B, pl. 48, 4–8; Gorini 2; HN Italy 1729; SNG ANS 828-44; SNG Lloyd 449–50; Basel 168–9; Dewing 406–7. VF, lightly toned. Good metal. Leo
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Lucania, Velia AR Didrachm. Circa 400-340 BC.7.66g, 20mm, 3h.
Head of nymph right.
Lion walking right; owl above, YEΛHTEΩN in exergue.
HN Italy 1277; Williams 217; SNG ANS 1231.
Very Fine. Rare.
From the inventory of a UK dealer;
Ex Bertolami Fine Arts, Auction 29, 22 March 2017, lot 48.Leo
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Lucania, Velia AR Stater. Circa 400-340 BC.7.44g, 21mm, 2h.
Lion crouching to right; owl standing to right in exergue.
Head of nymph to right, wearing single-pendant earring and necklace; Φ below chin, grape-vine before, YEΛH above.
HN Italy 1276; SNG ANS 1229; Jameson 387; HGC 1, 1306.
Very Fine. Rare.Leo
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Lucania, Velia StaterCirca. 340-334 BC, Didrachm, 7.62g.
Williams-251, HN Italy-1283. Obv: Head of Athena r., helmet decorated with griffin. Rx: Lion walking r., Π below, YEΛHTΩN in exergue.A wonderfully centered and very beautifully struck specimen. Minor scratches on face. Choice EFLeo
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Lucania, Velia, c. 440/35-400 BC. AR Didrachm20mm, 7.58g, 11h
Head of Athena l., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with griffin, palmette on neck guard. R/ Lion attacking stag r. Williams 139; HNItaly 1270. VFLeo
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LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 280 BC. Didrachm or Nomos21mm, 6.84 g 1
Head of Athena to left, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with Pegasus; behind neck, IE in shallow incuse square. Rev. [ΥEΛHTΩN] Lion attacking stag to left. HN III 1318. Williams 543 (same dies). Minor cleaning scratches, otherwise, good fine.
From a collection in Ticino, formed over 20 years ago.Leo
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LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 300-280 BC. AR Nomos22mm, 7.54 g, 2h
Philistion group. Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet, decorated with gryphon; Ó¨ between crest and neck guard / Lion standing right, head facing, tearing at ram’s head with jaws and forepaws; above, cicada left between Ф and I. Williams 419 (same dies); HN Italy 1305. VF, toned.Leo
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LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 300-280 BC. AR Nomos22mm, 7.46 g, 11h
Philistion Group. Helmeted head of Athena right, griffin on bowl / Lion standing right; die erasure below. Williams 394 (O197/R278); HN Italy 1301; SNG ANS 1397; SNG Ashmolean 1392; BMC 110; McClean 1470 (all from the same dies). VF, toned.
Ex Seaby Coin & Medal Bulletin 818 (March 1987), no. B34.Leo
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LUCANIA. Herakleia. Circa 420/15-390 BC. Didrachm or NomosSilver, 22 mm, 7.61 g, 3 h
Head of Athena to right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet adorned with hippocamp with curved wings on the bowl.
Rev. HPAKΛHIΩN Herakles strangling the Nemean lion; to left, club and bow.
HN Italy 1363. SNG ANS 47. Rare and nicely toned. Very fine.Leo
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MYSIA, Lampsakos. AR DiobolMYSIA, Lampsakos. 4th-3rd centuries BC. AR Diobol (12mm, 1.17 g, 12h). Janiform female head / Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet. SNG France 1190. Good VF, toned, light porosity.Leo
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MYSIA, Parion. 4th century BC. AR Hemidrachm13mm, 2.35 g, 6h.
Bull standing left, head right; round shield below / Gorgoneion, off center, Near VF.
Parion was a city of Mysia (Hellespontine Phrygia), located along the coast of the Hellespont, near the entrance to the Propontis. It was founded in the 8th/7th century BC by colonists from Miletos, Erythrai, and Paros (the latter of which are likely responsible for giving the city its name). The city began striking coinage in the late 6th century, consisting mainly of silver drachms with a gorgoneion on the obverse and a simple square incuse on the reverse. The gorgoneion remained a significant type on its civic coinage well into the early Roman Imperial period. Parion’s location relative to the Hellespont not only made it an important commercial center, as suggested by its prolific civic coinage, but also a strategically important city for the competing Hellenistic monarchies. Initially seized by the Macedonians under Alexander the Great, the city later switched hands multiple times between Lysimachos, Demetrios Poliorketes, the Seleukid kings from Seleukos I through Antiochos Hierax, and the Pergamene kingdom, who retained the city until it was annexed by Rome, circa 133 BC. Coinage was issued during all of these periods, though most of the coins were issues of the various kingdoms.Leo
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Sicily, Gela, c. 465-450 BC. AR Litra11mm, 0.85g, 9h
Horse advancing r.; wreath above. R/ Forepart of man-headed bull r. Jenkins, Gela, Group III; HGC 2, 373. Toned, wavy flan, VFLeo
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SICILY, Gela. Circa 490/85-480/75 BC. Didrachm, Silver21mm, 8.19 g 1
Nude rider galloping to right, hurling spear with his raised right hand. Rev. CΕΛΑ Forepart of man-headed bull to right. SNG Copenhagen 255. SNG München 254. About very fine.
From a collection in Ticino, formed over 20 years ago.Leo
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Sicily, Syracuse AR Stater.Time of Timoleon and the Third Democracy, circa 344-338 BC. Pegasos flying left / Helmeted head of Athena right, ΣVΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ around. Pegasi 2, SNG ANS 496. 8.02g, 22mm, 6h.
Near Extremely Fine. Toned.
From the collection of C.S., Germany.Leo
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Sicily, Syracuse, c. 435-415 BC. Æ Tetras16mm, 3.57g, 9h
Head of Arethusa r.; dolphin behind. R/ Octopus; three pellets around. CNS II, 1; SNG ANS 376ff.; HGC 2, 1428. Dark green patina, VF - Good VFLeo
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SICILY, Syracuse. Deinomenid Tyranny, 485-466 BC. Tetradrachm 24mm, 16.58 g 7
Male charioteer, wearing a long chiton and holding a goad in his right hand and the reins in both, driving a walking quadriga to right; above Nike flying right to crown the horses. Rev. ΣVRΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ Head of Arethusa to right, wearing necklace and pearl diadem, and with her hair tied in a krobylos that is bound up and falls over her diadem; around, four dolphins swimming clockwise. Boehringer 73 (V35/R48). Toned. Nearly very fine.
From a Swiss collection, formed before 2005.Leo
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SICILY, Syracuse. Pyrrhos. Æ 24mm278-276 BC. Æ 24mm (9.64 gm). Head of Herakles left, wearing lion's skin / Athena Promachos walking right, holding thunderbolt in right hand, shield on left arm. Calciati II pg. 321, 175; SNG ANS 844ff. Choice EF, pretty green patina.
From Davissions.Leo
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Syracuse. Philistis, wife of Hieron II, 275-215 BC. 5 LitraiSilver, 17 mm, 4.22 g, 2 h
Diademed and veiled bust of Philistis to left.
Rev. [ΒΑΣΙ]ΛΙΣΣΑ[Σ] - ΦΙΛΙΣΤΙΔΟΣ Nike driving slow biga to right, holding reins in both hands; to right, A.
CCO 237 (D2/R1). SNG ANS 889 (same dies). A beautiful piece with a fine portrait. Good very fine.Leo
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THRACE. Abdera (395-360 BC). DiobolTHRACE. Abdera (395-360 BC). Diobol. Kleantides, magistrate.
Obv: Griffin crouching left.Rev: Bull head left within incuse square.
SNG Copenhagen 347.
Condition: Extremely fine.
Weight: 1.4 g.
Diameter: 13 mm.Leo
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