Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Sicily, Leontinoi AR Tetradrachm. Circa 467-466 BC. Dies by the Demareteion Master. Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving walking quadriga right; Nike above, flying left to crown charioteer; crouching lion to right in exergue / Laureate head of Apollo right; ΛEONTINON and three leaves around; below, lion to right. SNG ANS 218 (same dies); Randazzo pl. 4, 90 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXII, O14/R15; Kraay-Hirmer O19/R18; Gulbenkian pl. XXII, O210/R211; Basel 348 (same rev. die); HGC 2, 665. 17.25g, 30mm, 6h.
Good Extremely Fine.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction V, 23 March 2013, lot 80;
Ex Comery Collection (Gibraltar), acquired prior to 1980.
The dies for this iconic masterpiece of late archaic numismatic art are confidently attributed as the work of the individual known as the 'Demareteion Master', who engraved dekadrachm and tetradrachm dies for Syracuse. The series takes it name from Queen Demarete of Syracuse, wife of the tyrant Gelon, who was said to have been personally involved in advocating for defeated Carthaginians in their peace negotiations with her husband after the battle of Himera in 479 BC (Diodorus Siculus, XI.26.3). In return they gifted her a gold crown, from which a gold coin was struck and called a Demareteion. While the existence of this specific coin or indeed any gold coins of this series remains a mystery, the silver coins that survive are amongst the most famous and highly prized coins from the ancient world and it is comparison with these that leads to the attribution of this Leontinoi tetradrachm. The refined style of the Apollo along with the crouching lion appear to directly link this beautiful coin to that series. There are clear stylistic parallels between the portraiture on the coins of both cities; the hand of this individual can be seen in his distinctive style apparent on the reverse of this coin in the eye-brow, eye form, delicate nose, pointed chin and slightly parted lips.
In addition to stylistic similarities, the iconography is inescapably similar to the Syracusan Demareteion issue. The quadriga on the obverse became almost synonymous with the Deinomenid realm and the exergual lion present on both the issues at Syracuse and Leontinoi is almost certainly an allusion to the Emmenid family and Queen Demarete's ancestors, the tyrants of Akragas, who claimed descent from the son of Oedipus, Polyneikes, whose shield device was a lion. The iconography on the reverse meanwhile mirrors Arethusa's four dolphins with laurel leaves; both portraits are laureate, and only in the addition of the lion – perhaps an allusion to the city itself – does the issue diverge significantly.
The occasion of the striking of this type is sometimes suggested as being a celebration of the fall of the Deinomenid tyrant Hieron and the independence of Leontinoi, around 466 BC. Both Holloway and Arnold-Biucchi contradict this, noting the clear associations with the Deinomenids present on the coin. Arnold-Biucchi, citing the hoard evidence of Randazzo, remarks that it would be logical for the Syracusan Demareteion types to have been struck some time (perhaps as much as a decade) before those of Leontinoi, given the advances in style present on the latter, and the sometimes significant wear on the former. It is more logical that the first post-Deinomenid coinage of Leontinoi should be the series placing the head of Apollo on the obverse, which also displays a significant degree of artistic distinction while disposing of those types that were so closely associated with the tyrants. The present type should instead be seen to have been minted a short time after the similarly styled issues at Syracuse.
This historically, artistically and numismatically important issue was even smaller than that produced at Syracuse, and is rightly considered to be one of the great masterpieces of early 5th century Sicilian coinage.
Good Extremely Fine.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction V, 23 March 2013, lot 80;
Ex Comery Collection (Gibraltar), acquired prior to 1980.
The dies for this iconic masterpiece of late archaic numismatic art are confidently attributed as the work of the individual known as the 'Demareteion Master', who engraved dekadrachm and tetradrachm dies for Syracuse. The series takes it name from Queen Demarete of Syracuse, wife of the tyrant Gelon, who was said to have been personally involved in advocating for defeated Carthaginians in their peace negotiations with her husband after the battle of Himera in 479 BC (Diodorus Siculus, XI.26.3). In return they gifted her a gold crown, from which a gold coin was struck and called a Demareteion. While the existence of this specific coin or indeed any gold coins of this series remains a mystery, the silver coins that survive are amongst the most famous and highly prized coins from the ancient world and it is comparison with these that leads to the attribution of this Leontinoi tetradrachm. The refined style of the Apollo along with the crouching lion appear to directly link this beautiful coin to that series. There are clear stylistic parallels between the portraiture on the coins of both cities; the hand of this individual can be seen in his distinctive style apparent on the reverse of this coin in the eye-brow, eye form, delicate nose, pointed chin and slightly parted lips.
In addition to stylistic similarities, the iconography is inescapably similar to the Syracusan Demareteion issue. The quadriga on the obverse became almost synonymous with the Deinomenid realm and the exergual lion present on both the issues at Syracuse and Leontinoi is almost certainly an allusion to the Emmenid family and Queen Demarete's ancestors, the tyrants of Akragas, who claimed descent from the son of Oedipus, Polyneikes, whose shield device was a lion. The iconography on the reverse meanwhile mirrors Arethusa's four dolphins with laurel leaves; both portraits are laureate, and only in the addition of the lion – perhaps an allusion to the city itself – does the issue diverge significantly.
The occasion of the striking of this type is sometimes suggested as being a celebration of the fall of the Deinomenid tyrant Hieron and the independence of Leontinoi, around 466 BC. Both Holloway and Arnold-Biucchi contradict this, noting the clear associations with the Deinomenids present on the coin. Arnold-Biucchi, citing the hoard evidence of Randazzo, remarks that it would be logical for the Syracusan Demareteion types to have been struck some time (perhaps as much as a decade) before those of Leontinoi, given the advances in style present on the latter, and the sometimes significant wear on the former. It is more logical that the first post-Deinomenid coinage of Leontinoi should be the series placing the head of Apollo on the obverse, which also displays a significant degree of artistic distinction while disposing of those types that were so closely associated with the tyrants. The present type should instead be seen to have been minted a short time after the similarly styled issues at Syracuse.
This historically, artistically and numismatically important issue was even smaller than that produced at Syracuse, and is rightly considered to be one of the great masterpieces of early 5th century Sicilian coinage.