Watch List notes:

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. AR Dekadrachm (32mm, 43.34 g, 2h). Unsigned dies in the style of Euainetos. Struck circa 405-380/67 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, [military harness, shield], greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; [AΘΛA below] / Head of Arethousa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; ΣΥ-ΡΑ-[Κ-Ο-ΣΙΩΝ] above, scallop shell behind neck, four dolphins swimming around. Gallatin dies R.XVIII/F.VIII; Scavino 53 (D16/R27); HGC 2, 1299; SNG Copenhagen 693 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 1279 (same rev. die); SNG Lockett 991 (same rev. die); de Luynes 1247 (same rev. die). Toned, compact flan, minor die shift, flan flaws on reverse. NGC photo certified. Lot includes an NGC Photo Certificate, 4684186-001, grading the coin Ch XF, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 4/5, Fine Style, die shift.


From the Grand Haven Collection. Ex Pegasi X (5 May 2004), lot 96.

The engraver Euainetos seems to have begun his series of signed dekadrachm dies a few years after Kimon; perhaps he began as an apprentice and "graduated" to master status. His dekadrachm design superseded that of Kimon and became a paradigm for coinage throughout the classical world. His Arethousa is less human and more divine than his predecessor's vision. The wreath of grain ears woven into her hair symbolizes the agricultural bounty of Sicily. His racing chariot is the essence of action, almost photographically frozen in time, with the charging, rearing horses appearing to levitate above the ground line. The design was widely copied on later coinage of Syracuse, as well as by the Carthaginian forces in Sicily.