Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3048 11 August 2016
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Ancients
SICILY. Syracuse. Hieron II (274-215 BC). AV decadrachm or hemistater (17mm, 4.28 gm, 7h). Struck by Hieron as king, ca. 217-215 BC. Head of Persephone left, wreathed in grain ears; bucranium behind / Charioteer driving fast biga left; IEPΩNOS below, E in exergue. HGC 2, 1541. SNG Copenhagen 818 (same obverse die). Minor obverse die rust, otherwise well struck from lovely dies and fully lustrous. NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5.Hieron II was a military adventurer who claimed descent from the Syracusan tyrant Gelon. He fell in with the army of Pyrrhus during his great Western expedition of 280 BC. When Pyrrhus pulled out of Syracuse in 275 BC, Hieron remained behind as commander of the garrison. He cannily married Philistis, daughter of a prominent Syracusan noble, and a major victory against the Mamertines in 270 BC convinced the grateful populace to name him King. He reigned for the next 55 years with strength, intelligence and justice. His gold coinage and follows Syracusan tradition, with the wreathed head of Persephone on this lovely piece recalling the coinage of Agathocles.
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD
SICILY. Syracuse. Hieron II (274-215 BC). AV decadrachm or hemistater (17mm, 4.28 gm, 7h). Struck by Hieron as king, ca. 217-215 BC. Head of Persephone left, wreathed in grain ears; bucranium behind / Charioteer driving fast biga left; IEPΩNOS below, E in exergue. HGC 2, 1541. SNG Copenhagen 818 (same obverse die). Minor obverse die rust, otherwise well struck from lovely dies and fully lustrous. NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5.Hieron II was a military adventurer who claimed descent from the Syracusan tyrant Gelon. He fell in with the army of Pyrrhus during his great Western expedition of 280 BC. When Pyrrhus pulled out of Syracuse in 275 BC, Hieron remained behind as commander of the garrison. He cannily married Philistis, daughter of a prominent Syracusan noble, and a major victory against the Mamertines in 270 BC convinced the grateful populace to name him King. He reigned for the next 55 years with strength, intelligence and justice. His gold coinage and follows Syracusan tradition, with the wreathed head of Persephone on this lovely piece recalling the coinage of Agathocles.
Estimate: 6000-8000 USD