Watch List notes:

GREEK COINS
Sicily

Aitna. Circa 460 BC. Litra (Silver, 12mm, 0.72 g 3). Nike, her head lowered, advancing right, holding a lowered kerykeion in her right hand and a wreath in her left. Rev. A-IT Winged thunderbolt flanked by two shields. Hirsch 272, 2011, 70. NAC 25, 2003, 57 = Peus 392, 2007, 4003. Extremely rare, apparently only the third specimen known and unpublished save for the auction appearances of the other two coins. Somewhat porous, otherwise, very fine.

From a collection in Ticino, formed over 20 years ago.qqqqqqThis extremely rare coin relates to a fascinating episode in Sicilian history: in 476 BC, Hieron I of Syracuse had repopulated the city of Katane with settlers from Leontinoi, but after the tyrant's death, the former Leontinians were expelled from their new city by the previous inhabitants. They then withdrew to Inessa, a small inland community to the west. It was here that they established their new home, naming it Aitna after the famous volcano that dominates eastern Sicily. The coinage of Aitna is in many ways very similar to that of Katane, but this unpublished type stands out remarkably. Here we see Nike, her head lowered, holding a kerykeion and a wreath: this is, no doubt, a reference to the second relocation of the former Leontinians and the founding of their new city.