Gemini, LLC
Auction X 13 January 2013
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Sicily. Syracuse. c. 400-380 BC. Decadrachm, 43.08g. (8h). Obv: Quadriga galloping left, driven by a charioteer holding reins and directing the horses with a goad. Above, Nike flying right to crown the charioteer. In exergue, panoply of arms on two steps: cuirass, two greaves, and a Phrygian helmet. Border of dots. Rx: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ Head of nymph Arethusa left, wearing a reed wreath, triple ear pendant, and necklace. Beneath her chin, Δ; around, four dolphins; on the lower one, signature ΕΥΑΙΝΕ. Gallatin R IX/D I. SNG Fitzwilliam 1277 (same dies). Signed die. Obverse struck with a rusty die but well centered. Extremely beautiful head of Arethusa. Because of the centering the complete name of the city shows above the head of Arethusa but none of the master's signature which is below Arethusa's neck. Only two reverse dies with the delta symbol were produced. VF/EF.
"Beyond these coins, human comprehension cannot go", Winckelmann wrote about Sicilian coins. He may well have had in mind the Syracusan decadrachms designed by the master engravers Kimon and Euainetos. Especially the series of the latter, which is also the larger one, became renowned in the whole Mediterranean for the beauty of its head of the nymph Arethusa, and was therefore copied by numerous mints in Italy and mainland Greece. Despite its serenity, the series was issued in gloomy times, when Dionysios I had to finance large-scale campaigns against the Carthaginians. Hoard evidence suggests that the decadrachms were not struck before c. 400 BC, i.e after the first five years of Dionysios' rule when he had consolidated his empire and was about to undertake another campaign against the Carthaginian armies, conquering Motye in 397 BC, though thereby risking the survival of Syracuse. The decadrachms are thought to have been payment for his army of mercenaries. One wonders whether these Campanian professional soldiers appreciated the artistic value of what they got. Maybe they did; at least the Campanian pottery workshops did so when the mercenaries came back home, and adopted the head of Arethusa for a new series of black-glazed cups with a medaillon in the center, featuring the decadrachm Arethusa.
"Beyond these coins, human comprehension cannot go", Winckelmann wrote about Sicilian coins. He may well have had in mind the Syracusan decadrachms designed by the master engravers Kimon and Euainetos. Especially the series of the latter, which is also the larger one, became renowned in the whole Mediterranean for the beauty of its head of the nymph Arethusa, and was therefore copied by numerous mints in Italy and mainland Greece. Despite its serenity, the series was issued in gloomy times, when Dionysios I had to finance large-scale campaigns against the Carthaginians. Hoard evidence suggests that the decadrachms were not struck before c. 400 BC, i.e after the first five years of Dionysios' rule when he had consolidated his empire and was about to undertake another campaign against the Carthaginian armies, conquering Motye in 397 BC, though thereby risking the survival of Syracuse. The decadrachms are thought to have been payment for his army of mercenaries. One wonders whether these Campanian professional soldiers appreciated the artistic value of what they got. Maybe they did; at least the Campanian pottery workshops did so when the mercenaries came back home, and adopted the head of Arethusa for a new series of black-glazed cups with a medaillon in the center, featuring the decadrachm Arethusa.