Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIII 23 March 2017
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Sicily, Naxos AR Drachm. Circa 460-430 BC. Bearded head of Dionysos right, wearing tainia decorated with an ivy branch / Nude and bearded Silenos squatting half-left, holding kantharos in right hand and resting his left hand on his knee, tail behind; NAXION around; all within shallow concave circular incuse. Cahn 56 (V41/R47); HGC 2, 990; SNG Lloyd 1152; BMC 9; Jameson 676; de Luynes 1064; Pozzi 507 (all from the same dies). 4.29g, 19mm, 6h.
Extremely Fine. Very pleasant old cabinet tone, with remarkable visual appeal. Rare.
Ex James Howard Collection, Roma Numismatics VII, 22 March 2014, lot 133.
Though not as rare as its earlier counterpart, this wonderful type is however notoriously difficult to obtain in high grade. Of all the examples from various properties which Roma Numismatics has handled, this is by far the finest. It also greatly surpasses the two examples from the Niggeler and Hunt Collections which have been sold in recent years.
Executed perhaps as little as a decade after the famous archaic tetradrachm (and corresponding drachm), the contrast between it and this coin could not be sharper. The god Dionysos has become increasingly humanised, with a less severe appearance not too dissimilar we may imagine from noblemen of that time.
The reverse appears to continue the development away from static, romanticised scenes, instead portraying Silenos in a rather less than reverential pose, clearly inebriated and with an apparent carefree disregard for himself or his surroundings - instead preoccupied solely with his drinking cup.
Extremely Fine. Very pleasant old cabinet tone, with remarkable visual appeal. Rare.
Ex James Howard Collection, Roma Numismatics VII, 22 March 2014, lot 133.
Though not as rare as its earlier counterpart, this wonderful type is however notoriously difficult to obtain in high grade. Of all the examples from various properties which Roma Numismatics has handled, this is by far the finest. It also greatly surpasses the two examples from the Niggeler and Hunt Collections which have been sold in recent years.
Executed perhaps as little as a decade after the famous archaic tetradrachm (and corresponding drachm), the contrast between it and this coin could not be sharper. The god Dionysos has become increasingly humanised, with a less severe appearance not too dissimilar we may imagine from noblemen of that time.
The reverse appears to continue the development away from static, romanticised scenes, instead portraying Silenos in a rather less than reverential pose, clearly inebriated and with an apparent carefree disregard for himself or his surroundings - instead preoccupied solely with his drinking cup.