Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XX 29-30 Oct 2020
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Sicily, Selinos AR Tetradrachm. Circa 455-409 BC. Artemis driving slow quadriga to left, holding reins in both hands, beside her stands Apollo drawing bow; ΣEΛINONTION (retrograde) around / River god Selinos, standing nude to left, cradling a palm branch in left arm and holding in right hand a phiale over altar to left before which stands a cockerel; selinon leaf above statue of bull on plinth in left field, ΣEΛIИOΣ around above. Schwabacher 4 (Q1/S4); HGC 2, 1220; SNG Lloyd 1222 (same dies); BMC 25 (same dies); Berlin 576 (same dies); Kraay & Hirmer 186 (same obv. die); Rhousopoulos 372 (same dies); HGC 2, 1220. 17.44g, 27mm, 8h.
Near Mint State; magnificent old cabinet tone. Very Rare; among the finest known examples.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Mike S. Gasvoda Collection;
Privately purchased from Edward J. Waddell Ltd. (inventory no. 54010, USD 55,000);
Ex Sotheby's, 5 July 1995, lot 23;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 36, 7 May 1985, lot 57.
Selinos was one of the first Sicilian cities to issue coins, commencing c. 540-530 BC, striking staters probably initially on the Corinthian standard, but later on the Attic. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from the name of the wild celery that grew in the area, known as selinon. Indeed, early staters depicted a large selinon leaf as the obverse type, but these were eventually superseded by Syracusan-inspired chariot designs such as the present tetradrachm. However the selinon leaf as a motif was not entirely abandoned and the later coinage retained this early emblem of the city on the reverse as an adjunct symbol as can be seen in this example. The connection with Syracuse was not limited to the influence of the iconography of their coinage, however: the people of Selinos are mentioned by Diodorus as being amongst the Sicilian allies who rallied together to expel the last tyrant of Syracuse in 466/467 BC, Thrasyboulos (Diodorus Siculus, Biblioteca Historica, xi.68). The obverse of this coin therefore can be seen to hint at the relationship between the two cities beyond surface artistry.
Two other subordinate elements of the reverse design are present which have attracted considerable attention - the cockerel before an altar, and the bull set upon a platform. Since the bull and its platform vary considerably in form and style from one die to the next, a local statue is ruled out as a possibility. A. H. Lloyd (N.C. 1935) considered these two symbols to represent the long-standing friendship of Selinos with Himera, since the cockerel was the principal type of Himera and he identified the bull as the infamous brazen bull of the tyrant Phalaris of Akragas, in which he is said to have roasted his enemies alive, on the basis that Himera was one of the important acquisitions of Phalaris in his quest to become master of Sicily. It has also been posited that the bull may be present as a result of the connection of bulls and river gods, which is perhaps corroborated by the presence of fish alongside bulls on Thourian reverse types. Both symbols are rendered in exquisite detail, the miniature bull easily the equal of any Thourians. The principal element of the reverse however is a real tour de force. The figure is the river-god Selinos, portrayed as an idealised nude youth holding a phiale and carefully detailed laurel branch, set with a diadem about his brow.
Near Mint State; magnificent old cabinet tone. Very Rare; among the finest known examples.
From the Long Valley River Collection;
Ex Mike S. Gasvoda Collection;
Privately purchased from Edward J. Waddell Ltd. (inventory no. 54010, USD 55,000);
Ex Sotheby's, 5 July 1995, lot 23;
Ex Bank Leu AG, Auction 36, 7 May 1985, lot 57.
Selinos was one of the first Sicilian cities to issue coins, commencing c. 540-530 BC, striking staters probably initially on the Corinthian standard, but later on the Attic. The name of the city is thought to have been derived from the name of the wild celery that grew in the area, known as selinon. Indeed, early staters depicted a large selinon leaf as the obverse type, but these were eventually superseded by Syracusan-inspired chariot designs such as the present tetradrachm. However the selinon leaf as a motif was not entirely abandoned and the later coinage retained this early emblem of the city on the reverse as an adjunct symbol as can be seen in this example. The connection with Syracuse was not limited to the influence of the iconography of their coinage, however: the people of Selinos are mentioned by Diodorus as being amongst the Sicilian allies who rallied together to expel the last tyrant of Syracuse in 466/467 BC, Thrasyboulos (Diodorus Siculus, Biblioteca Historica, xi.68). The obverse of this coin therefore can be seen to hint at the relationship between the two cities beyond surface artistry.
Two other subordinate elements of the reverse design are present which have attracted considerable attention - the cockerel before an altar, and the bull set upon a platform. Since the bull and its platform vary considerably in form and style from one die to the next, a local statue is ruled out as a possibility. A. H. Lloyd (N.C. 1935) considered these two symbols to represent the long-standing friendship of Selinos with Himera, since the cockerel was the principal type of Himera and he identified the bull as the infamous brazen bull of the tyrant Phalaris of Akragas, in which he is said to have roasted his enemies alive, on the basis that Himera was one of the important acquisitions of Phalaris in his quest to become master of Sicily. It has also been posited that the bull may be present as a result of the connection of bulls and river gods, which is perhaps corroborated by the presence of fish alongside bulls on Thourian reverse types. Both symbols are rendered in exquisite detail, the miniature bull easily the equal of any Thourians. The principal element of the reverse however is a real tour de force. The figure is the river-god Selinos, portrayed as an idealised nude youth holding a phiale and carefully detailed laurel branch, set with a diadem about his brow.