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November Auction 2015 13 November 2015
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SICILY, SILVER DRACHM OF SYRACUSE, unsigned work by the Master Eukleidas, ca. 405-400 BC, 4.367g, 2h. Kunstfreund 121. Rizzo pl. 47, 1 (same dies). Very rare. Attractively toned. Perfectly centered and struck on a broad flan. An important and innovative coin with one of the most successful facing heads in all of Greek coinage. Superb extremely fine. Privately acquired from Tradart
"The crest of her great helmet swept the clouds" (Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy, 8.350). Athena, for the first time, appears in the Syracusan numismatic art, decked with a richly decorated attic helmet and dolphins swimming around. The goddess is, henceforth, facing the viewer. The beauty of this representation - one of the most outstanding compositions in numismatic history - is remarked by Agnes Baldwin in her study on the Facing heads on ancient Greek coins: "The Athena of Eukleidas is distinguished for Pheidian majesty, and can hardly be excelled..."
"The crest of her great helmet swept the clouds" (Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy, 8.350). Athena, for the first time, appears in the Syracusan numismatic art, decked with a richly decorated attic helmet and dolphins swimming around. The goddess is, henceforth, facing the viewer. The beauty of this representation - one of the most outstanding compositions in numismatic history - is remarked by Agnes Baldwin in her study on the Facing heads on ancient Greek coins: "The Athena of Eukleidas is distinguished for Pheidian majesty, and can hardly be excelled..."