Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVI 26 Sep 2018
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Sicily, Akragas AV 2 Litrai - Diobol. Emergency issue, circa 406 BC. Eagle with closed wings perching on rock to right, tearing at serpent; AKPA above, two pellets (mark of value) on rock / Crab, ΣΙΛΑ-ΝΟΣ below. Dewing 569; Rizzo pl. III, 8; SNG ANS 998; SNG München 88; Gulbenkian 171; HGC 2, 75. 1.36g, 11mm, 12h.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex collection of "eines Geschichtsfreundes".
On the reverse of this coin we see the magistrate's signature, Silanos, which is also found on contemporary tetradrachms (SNG ANS 1000). Gold coinage in Sicily, as in Italy and Greece down to the time of Philip II of Macedon, was usually issued only as an emergency measure due to its extreme scarcity and its status as a sacred metal. We can therefore tie this, the last issue of any relevance struck by Akragas, to the period shortly before the capture and sack of the city by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.
Like the contemporary issues at Gela, Stiela, Akragas and Kamarina, this coin was struck to finance a desperate defence against the Carthaginian expedition, which after the destruction of Akragas, would go on to ravage Gela and Kamarina. The exodus of refugees from these cities fled toward Syracuse, chased by the fear of the Carthaginians, though not by the Carthaginians themselves; the rumour among the Greeks was that Dionysios had betrayed their cause and made a deal with the enemy to cement his power over Syracuse. Akragas never recovered its former status as one of the great cities of Sicily. Though it was revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century, it suffered greatly in the First and Second Punic Wars, and took little further part in any historical events of significance.
Good Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex collection of "eines Geschichtsfreundes".
On the reverse of this coin we see the magistrate's signature, Silanos, which is also found on contemporary tetradrachms (SNG ANS 1000). Gold coinage in Sicily, as in Italy and Greece down to the time of Philip II of Macedon, was usually issued only as an emergency measure due to its extreme scarcity and its status as a sacred metal. We can therefore tie this, the last issue of any relevance struck by Akragas, to the period shortly before the capture and sack of the city by the Carthaginians in 406 BC.
Like the contemporary issues at Gela, Stiela, Akragas and Kamarina, this coin was struck to finance a desperate defence against the Carthaginian expedition, which after the destruction of Akragas, would go on to ravage Gela and Kamarina. The exodus of refugees from these cities fled toward Syracuse, chased by the fear of the Carthaginians, though not by the Carthaginians themselves; the rumour among the Greeks was that Dionysios had betrayed their cause and made a deal with the enemy to cement his power over Syracuse. Akragas never recovered its former status as one of the great cities of Sicily. Though it was revived to some extent under Timoleon in the latter part of the 4th century, it suffered greatly in the First and Second Punic Wars, and took little further part in any historical events of significance.