Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Sicily, Panormos (as Ziz) AR Tetradrachm. Circa 405-380 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in left hand, reins in both, driving fast quadriga right; Nike flying left above, crowning charioteer with wreath she holds with both hands; hippocamp swimming to right in exergue, Punic ṢYṢ before / Head of nymph left, wearing ampyx, triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace; three dolphins around. Jenkins, Punic 30 (O7/R26); SNG ANS 538 (same obv. die); SNG Lloyd 1583 (same dies); Rizzo pl. LXIV, 27. 17.13g, 27mm, 9h.
Extremely Fine. Well centred and extremely well preserved, with a light grey cabinet tone.
From the B.R.H. Collection, privately purchased c.1980s in Munich.
The influence of Greek designs on the Punic coinage of Sicily is particularly evident on this coin. Jenkins (Coins of Punic Sicily, SNR 50, 1971) identifies the reverse portrait as being a 'free adaptation' of the portrait of Arethusa on Kimon's dekadrachm. While the portrait lacks the hair net of Kimon's Arethusa, the triple-drop earring and characteristic curls on the top of the head are emphasised in the design. While Jenkins admits that the result is 'remote' from Kimon's original, the second generation of Kimonian copies (reverse dies 28-29) are much closer reproductions, such that the inspiration for the type is indisputable. The obverse is a copy of the work of 'Euth...', who produced a radical, energetic die (Tudeer obv. die 15) at Syracuse, a work whose key elements are reproduced here. As the reverse is a relatively free interpretation of Kimon, so too is the obverse an adaptation of 'Euth...'; gone are the wings of the charioteer and the Skylla; instead of this symbol of Syracuse we see a hippocamp, perhaps taken from the coinage of either Himera or Messana, and in the place of the artist's signature on the original is the Punic ethnik 'Ziz'. Inspired by these types, the artist or artists responsible for this coin have produced immensely beautiful dies that are amongst the very finest in the whole Siculo-Punic series.
Extremely Fine. Well centred and extremely well preserved, with a light grey cabinet tone.
From the B.R.H. Collection, privately purchased c.1980s in Munich.
The influence of Greek designs on the Punic coinage of Sicily is particularly evident on this coin. Jenkins (Coins of Punic Sicily, SNR 50, 1971) identifies the reverse portrait as being a 'free adaptation' of the portrait of Arethusa on Kimon's dekadrachm. While the portrait lacks the hair net of Kimon's Arethusa, the triple-drop earring and characteristic curls on the top of the head are emphasised in the design. While Jenkins admits that the result is 'remote' from Kimon's original, the second generation of Kimonian copies (reverse dies 28-29) are much closer reproductions, such that the inspiration for the type is indisputable. The obverse is a copy of the work of 'Euth...', who produced a radical, energetic die (Tudeer obv. die 15) at Syracuse, a work whose key elements are reproduced here. As the reverse is a relatively free interpretation of Kimon, so too is the obverse an adaptation of 'Euth...'; gone are the wings of the charioteer and the Skylla; instead of this symbol of Syracuse we see a hippocamp, perhaps taken from the coinage of either Himera or Messana, and in the place of the artist's signature on the original is the Punic ethnik 'Ziz'. Inspired by these types, the artist or artists responsible for this coin have produced immensely beautiful dies that are amongst the very finest in the whole Siculo-Punic series.