Decadrammo¹, Zecca di Siracusa, c. 460 a. C.

Descrizione sommaria:
D. Quadriga al passo verso destra, cavalli incoronati da una Vittoria alata. In esergo un leone.² Bordo perlinato.
R. ΣΥRAKOSION.³ Testa femminile (Arethusa)⁴ incoronata d'alloro all'interno di un sottile cerchio lineare, all'esterno 4 delfini circondano la leggenda precitata. Bordo lineare.

Dalla ricerca nel web ho ricavato i link che seguono, il primo attinente ad un decadrammo autentico in possesso del British Museum, il secondo e il terzo attinenti a tetradrammi tipologicamente affini alla moneta in esame, gli altri attinenti a riproduzioni moderne del menzionato decadrammo:

1. http://www.britishmuseum.org/images/ps173914_l.jpg Silver decadrachm of Syracuse Weight: 44.430 g CM BMC Syracuse 63 Greeks in Italy Silver decadrachm of Syracuse Greek, around 460 BC From Syracuse, Sicily. This may be the so-called Demareteion of Syracuse. The first half of the fifth century BC in Sicily was characterised in several cities by the rise of powerful tyrants. In the city of Syracuse, the greatest of the tyrants was Gelon. In 480 BC Gelon brought to an end the rivalry between Carthaginians and Greeks on the island of Sicily with a decisive defeat of the Carthaginian forces at the Battle of Himera. Gelon's wife, Demarete, was instrumental in the peace settlement that followed. According to the later Greek historian, Diodorus of Sicily, Demarete received a crown of one hundred gold talents from the Carthaginians. He tells us that in celebration 'she struck a coin which was called after a Demareteion: it was worth ten Attic drachmas'. For a long time the Demareteion that Diodorus mentions was assumed by scholars to be the silver coin shown here, since it is the earliest known ten-drachma coin (decadrachm) produced at Syracuse. On the front of the coin is a chariot drawn by four horses (a quadriga) with a figure of Nike, and a lion running below. On the other side is the head of the nymph Arethusa, surrounded by dolphins and the Greek legend 'of the Syracusans'. Certainly the quality of engraving of the design is markedly higher than on accompanying tetradrachm coins, suggesting this to be a particularly important issue. More recent numismatic research has shown, however, that the coin must be dated at least twenty years after the Battle of Himera. The Demareteion coins that Diodorus describes thus remain something of a puzzle.
2. http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Area_IV_map/Syracusa_map/jpgs/SyrB_375_ha.jpg dekadrachm (Demareteion) of Syracuse, 465 BC ca obv. slow quadriga, horses crowned by Nike Rev. head of female (Arethusa), 4 dolphins around SURAKOSION Boehringer 375 42.29 g Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 13 8th October 1998 no. 433 Ex Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig no. 433.
   
3. Roma Numismatics Ltd Auction 6 Session 2 Auction date: 29 September 2013 Lot number: 442 Price realized: To Be Posted Find similar lots in upcoming auctions at  NumisBids.com Lot description: Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Deinomenid Tyranny. Time of Hieron I, circa 475-470 BC. Dies by the Demareteion Master. Charioteer wearing a long chiton and holding a goad in his right hand and the reins in his left, driving a walking quadriga to right; Nike above, flying right to crown the horses; below, lion springing to right in exergue / Head of Arethusa right within linear circle, wearing olive wreath, pendant earring and necklace; her hair waved at the front and tied at the back with a ribbon; ΣVRAKOΣION and four dolphins swimming clockwise around. Boehringer 382 (V196/R269); Rizzo pl. XXXV, 4 var.; SNG ANS -. 17.32g, 26mm, 6h. Insignificant mark on reverse, otherwise Extremely Fine. Very Rare. From the Comery Collection. The series of coins known as the Demareteia are among the most famous and revered of all the ancient coins, being acclaimed as masterpieces of late archaic art. The engraver responsible for the series, the 'Demareteion Master' is rightly placed among the first rank of accomplished artists. The series takes its name from queen Demarete, wife of the Syracusan tyrant Gelon, who Diodoros (XI. 26) reports as having intervened on behalf of the defeated Carthaginians at the peace negotiations following the Battle of Himera: 'For when the ambassadors who had been dispatched from Carthage came to him and begged him with tears to treat them humanely, he granted them peace, exacting of them the expense he had incurred for the war, two thousand talents of silver, and requiring them further to build two temples in which they should place copies of the treaty. The Carthaginians, having unexpectedly gained their deliverance, not only agreed to all this but also promised to give in addition a gold crown to Demarete, the wife of Gelon. For Demarete at their request had contributed the greatest aid toward the conclusion of the peace, and when she had received the crown of one hundred gold talents from them, she struck a coin which was called from her a Damareteion. This was worth ten Attic drachmas and was called by the Sicilian Greeks, according to its weight, a pentekontalitron.' The identity of the coin Diodoros mentions has long presented a mystery, fiercely debated, since the crown was said to be of gold and there were no known gold coins of Syracuse until many years later. At various times it has been claimed that Diodoros must have been referring to a gold issue of which no specimens survive, or another silver coin with which we are not familiar. Yet he specifically mentions the denomination and standard of the coin, and the case for the companion dekadrachm of this type being the coin referred to by Diodoros can no longer be seriously disputed. Though we shall not present here arguments relating to the dating of the series, the consensus is that the coin was struck some time after the Battle of Himera, most likely under Hieron, with the date range proposed by Alföldi, E. Boehringer and Arnold-Biucchi of 475-470 seming the most plausible. The superior style and workmanship of the coin certainly appears to commemorate a victory, noting in particular the extraordinary presence of a laurel wreath adorning Arethusa; yet a purely commemorative nature for this coin is probably a simplistic and naive interpretation. The dekadrachms struck by Dionysios I are now agreed to have been intended to pay for mercenaries; the theory that the Athenian dekadrachms were struck in commemoration of the victory over the Persians at Marathon or Salamis too has been discredited. We should see in the Demareteion series a product of expedience - a means of paying mercenary soldiers - which though presented in a remarkable form is nonetheless an economic solution rather than a commemorative frivolity. Estimate: 50000 GBP.
4. Numismatica Ars Classica Auction 72 Auction date: 16 May 2013 Lot number: 324 Price realized: 110,000 CHF  (approx. 113,695 USD as of the auction date)   Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees.Find similar lots in upcoming auctions at  NumisBids.com Lot description: Greek Coins Syracuse. Tetradrachm of the Demareteion series circa 465, AR 17.80 g. Slow quadriga driven r. by charioteer, wearing chiton and holding reins in both hands and kentron in l.; above, Nike flying r. to crown the horses. In exergue, lion running r. Rev. ΣV – RA – KOΣΙ – Ο – N Head of Arethusa r., wearing olivewreath, earring and necklace, framed within a circle and surrounded by four dolphins swimming clockwise. Rizzo pl. XXXV, 6. AMB 434 (these dies). Boehringer 386.1 (this coin illustrated). Very rare and in exceptional condition for this very difficult and prestigious issue. A wonderful old cabinet tone and of superb style, minor oxidations, otherwise extremely fine. Ex Leu sale 76, 1999, 54. From the collection of the Money Museum of Zürich. In recent decades the dates of numerous ancient coins, including the celebrated works attributed to the Demareteion Master, have been reconsidered. These coins had traditionally been placed in 480 or 479 B.C. based upon an historical association derived from a passage in the eleventh book of Diodorus Siculus. However, the numismatic component of his account, which was composed 450 years after the events described, appears flawed, and current thought places these coins firmly between c.470 and c.460 B.C. Diodorus records the generous terms for peace given by the Syracusan tyrant Gelon to the Carthaginians, who in 480 B.C. the Greeks had just defeated at the Battle of Himera. He reports that the Carthaginians were asked to pay only the costs of war incurred by the Greeks, two thousand talents of silver, and to build two temples in which copies of the treaty were to be preserved. That report is followed by the passage relevant to the Demareteion decadrachm: "The Carthaginians, having unexpectedly gained their deliverance, not only agreed to all this but also promised to give in addition a gold crown to Demarete, the wife of Gelon. For Demarete at their request had contributed the greatest aid toward the conclusion of the peace, and when she had received the crown of one hundred gold talents from them, she struck a coin which was called from her a Demareteion. This was worth ten Attic drachmas and was called by the Sicilian Greeks, according to its weight, a pentekontalitron [a fifty-litra piece]." (XI 26.3) In his 1969 work The Demareteion and Sicilian Chronology, Kraay challenged the notion current since 1830 that the decadrachm mentioned by Diodorus was the first issue of silver decadrachms at Syracuse. Beyond the fact that the passage suggests the coins would have been made of gold, Kraay objected on numismatic grounds to so early a date for the first decadrachm. He noted how its incorrect date of c.480/79 B.C. had become "the sheet-anchor of Sicilian numismatic chronology" and, consequently, had skewed ideas on the chronologies of so many other coinages. Moreover, Kraay notes that the appearance of the leaping lion on two issues of Leontini tetradrachms had led some to assume that the tyrant of Leontini must have played a role at the Battle of Himera. However, literary sources record no such involvement, and if this coinage was disassociated with the victory at Himera, the only connection needed between the Demareteion issues of Syracuse and Leontini would be of a numismatic character. It is now believed that the earliest possible date for the Demareteion decadrachm is c.470 B.C., and that it more likely was struck in about 465 B.C. The same may be said for the associated tetradrachms of Syracuse that Kraay notes exhibit "the same peculiarities of style and design" as the decadrachm. Kraay initially had narrowed the timeframe for the decadrachm to c.466-461 B.C., between the expulsion of the tyrant Hieron I from Syracuse and the removal of foreign mercenaries from the city in 461, and a few years later had settled upon c.465 B.C. Estimate: 80000 CHF.
5. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pos=-4277 Syracuse, Sicily, AR modern electrotype copy. Syracuse, Sicily, AR modern electrotype copy, Silver dekadrachm, Copy of a British Museum example of the c. 466 masterpiece by the Demaretion Master; Boehringer 376; BMC 63 (original of this coin), 34.285g, 33.0mm, 180o, 1930’s era; obverse Male charioteer wearing a long chiton, goad in right, reins in left, walking quadriga to right, Nike above flying right crowns horses; lion springing to right in ex; reverse SURAKOSION, Head of Arethusa to r., wearing olive wreath, pendant earring and necklace; hair waved at front and turned up at back; linear circle around and four dolphins swimming clockwise.
6. http://www.acsearch.info/record.html?id=70036 Source  Jean Elsen & ses Fils S.A. Auction 98 (13.12.2008) Lot  44  ( «  |  » ) Price  600 EUR (~820 USD) Description SICILE, SYRACUSE, AR décadrachme par le maître du Démareteion, Reproduction moderne. Droit : Quadrige couronné par Niké volant à droite, mené au pas par un aurige. A l'exergue, lion courant à droite. Revers : Tête l. de nymphe à droite, dans un cercle linéaire, entourée de quatre dauphins. Ref.: Boehringer, type 376. 36,02g. Petit poinçon MB au bas du droit. Très Beau. VF.
7. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pos=-12792 Syracuse, Sicily, dekadrachm Submitted to Spanish Forum Imperio-Numismatico for verification. Apr_2011AR Dekadrachm, Demaretion, 35 mm Obv: Slow quadriga driven right by malr charioteer holding goad; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses; in exg, lion springing right REv: ΣV/RA/KOΣ/ION around linear circle, within which head of Artemis-Arethusa right, wearing olive-wreath; around, four dolphins. Boehringer #376; BMC Sicily, #63; Sear #92.
8. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pos=-502 Syracuse, silver dekadrachm, 063. AR dekadrachm, Demaretion Slow quadriga driven right by malr charioteer holding goad; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses; in exg, lion springing right / ΣVRAKOΣION around linear circle, within which head of Artemis-Arethusa right, wearing olive-wreath; around, four dolphins. BMC Sicily, 63; Sear 920. Sold on Ebay as a reproduction. "Copy" stamped on rim. Submitted by Bluefish.
9. http://www.forumancientcoins.com/fakes/displayimage.php?pos=-1888 Syracuse, silver dekadrachm, 063 AR dekadrachm, the Demaretion. Modern forgery. Slow quadriga driven right by malr charioteer holding goad; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses; in exg, lion springing right / ΣVRAKOΣION around linear circle, within which head of Artemis-Arethusa right, wearing olive-wreath; around, four dolphins BMC Sicily, 63; Sear 920 Purchased at auction April 2005. Once identified as fake the seller refunded buyer's money.