Heritage World Coin Auctions
ANA Signature Sale 3066 17 Aug 2018
View prices realized
► Sale information
Find similar lots
Ancients
SICILY. Syracuse. Hieron II (275-215 BC). AV decadrachm or hemistater (16.5mm, 4.25 gm, 5h). NGC MS ★ 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style, die shift. Struck by Hieron as King, ca. 217-215 BC. Head of Persephone left, wreathed in grain ears; palm bound with fillet behind / IEPΩNOΣ, charioteer driving fast biga right, reins in left hand, kentron in right. SNG ANS 863 var. (obverse control mark). BMC 509. Bright, lustrous surfaces from dies of remarkable fine style.
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 after 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 follows Syracusan tradition, with the wreathed head of Persephone on this lovely piece recalling the coinage of Agathocles.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 8000-10000 USD
SICILY. Syracuse. Hieron II (275-215 BC). AV decadrachm or hemistater (16.5mm, 4.25 gm, 5h). NGC MS ★ 5/5 - 4/5, Fine Style, die shift. Struck by Hieron as King, ca. 217-215 BC. Head of Persephone left, wreathed in grain ears; palm bound with fillet behind / IEPΩNOΣ, charioteer driving fast biga right, reins in left hand, kentron in right. SNG ANS 863 var. (obverse control mark). BMC 509. Bright, lustrous surfaces from dies of remarkable fine style.
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 after 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 follows Syracusan tradition, with the wreathed head of Persephone on this lovely piece recalling the coinage of Agathocles.
HID02901242017
Estimate: 8000-10000 USD