Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 126 17 Nov 2021
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Syracuse
30 litrae circa 345-335, AV 2.13 g. ΣΥΡΑΚ – [Ο] – ΣΙ – ΩΝ Laureate head of Zeus r.; behind, Thessalian helmet. Rev. Pegasus flying r.; below, ΣΩ. Jameson 850 var. (different symbol). SNG Lloyd 1439 var. (different symbol). AMB 497 var. (different symbol).
An apparently unrecorded variety of a rare type and in exceptional condition for the issue.
A magnificent portrait of superb style struck on a full flan. Unobtrusive edge mark
at eleven o’clock on obverse, otherwise good extremely fine
Ex Sotheby’s sale 21-22 June 1991, Hunt part II, 275. From the S. Weintraub and Harald Salvesen collections.
Graded Ch AU Strike 5/5 Surface 3/5 edge marks, NGC certification number 6157581-007
This rare gold issue was struck in support of the conflicts undertaken by the Corinthian general Timoleon and his army of Peloponnesian mercenaries on behalf of the Syracusans, who had fallen on dark days. In an attempt to expel their tyrant, Dionysius II, in 345 BC, the Syracusans had initially enlisted the aid of Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, but his real intention was to take control of Syracuse and become the preeminent power in Greek Sicily. At the same time fear was growing that the Carthaginians would take advantage of the chaos in Syracuse to launch a new offensive and perhaps overwhelm the Greek cities of the island. Faced with all of these problems, the Syracusans begged for aid from Corinth, the mother city of Syracuse. In response, Corinth dispatched Timoleon and a large mercenary force to set things straight. In 344 BC, Timoleon defeated Hicetas at the Battle of Adranon and in the following year he negotiated the surrender of Dionysius II in return for safe passage to Corinth. With the immediate danger to Syracuse now out of the way, Timoleon restored the city's democracy (its third in a series punctuated by tyrannies) and increased the population. However, there still remained the distant clouds of Carthaginian menace while Timoleon was undoing the damage of war and tyranny in Syracuse. In 339/8 BC, the Punic storm broke on Sicily and a Punic army of some 70,000 men was poised to overrun the Greek cities. Timoleon met this army with his much smaller force of mercenaries at the Krimissos River and defeated it. This severe loss forced the Carthaginians to renegotiate the boundaries of Punic and Greek territory on Sicily and subsequently recognized the old division at the Halycus River. Shortly after saving both Syracuse and Greek Sicily, the much-loved Timoleon was forced to retire from his leadership position in 337 BC due to blindness, and he died shortly thereafter. The types of this coin reflect both the influence of Timoleon and of his Peloponnesian mercenaries. The obverse depicts the head of Zeus Eleutherios (\Zeus of Freedom\\), a god who was invoked for obvious reasons in the context of Timoleon's work to rid the Syracusans of their tyrants. The same head of the god also appears with a full Greek label on bronze coins struck at Syracuse under Timoleon. The Pegasus of the reverse type is derived from the coins of Corinth, which regularly employed it as the badge of the city.
https://vimeo.com/629990351""
30 litrae circa 345-335, AV 2.13 g. ΣΥΡΑΚ – [Ο] – ΣΙ – ΩΝ Laureate head of Zeus r.; behind, Thessalian helmet. Rev. Pegasus flying r.; below, ΣΩ. Jameson 850 var. (different symbol). SNG Lloyd 1439 var. (different symbol). AMB 497 var. (different symbol).
An apparently unrecorded variety of a rare type and in exceptional condition for the issue.
A magnificent portrait of superb style struck on a full flan. Unobtrusive edge mark
at eleven o’clock on obverse, otherwise good extremely fine
Ex Sotheby’s sale 21-22 June 1991, Hunt part II, 275. From the S. Weintraub and Harald Salvesen collections.
Graded Ch AU Strike 5/5 Surface 3/5 edge marks, NGC certification number 6157581-007
This rare gold issue was struck in support of the conflicts undertaken by the Corinthian general Timoleon and his army of Peloponnesian mercenaries on behalf of the Syracusans, who had fallen on dark days. In an attempt to expel their tyrant, Dionysius II, in 345 BC, the Syracusans had initially enlisted the aid of Hicetas, the tyrant of Leontini, but his real intention was to take control of Syracuse and become the preeminent power in Greek Sicily. At the same time fear was growing that the Carthaginians would take advantage of the chaos in Syracuse to launch a new offensive and perhaps overwhelm the Greek cities of the island. Faced with all of these problems, the Syracusans begged for aid from Corinth, the mother city of Syracuse. In response, Corinth dispatched Timoleon and a large mercenary force to set things straight. In 344 BC, Timoleon defeated Hicetas at the Battle of Adranon and in the following year he negotiated the surrender of Dionysius II in return for safe passage to Corinth. With the immediate danger to Syracuse now out of the way, Timoleon restored the city's democracy (its third in a series punctuated by tyrannies) and increased the population. However, there still remained the distant clouds of Carthaginian menace while Timoleon was undoing the damage of war and tyranny in Syracuse. In 339/8 BC, the Punic storm broke on Sicily and a Punic army of some 70,000 men was poised to overrun the Greek cities. Timoleon met this army with his much smaller force of mercenaries at the Krimissos River and defeated it. This severe loss forced the Carthaginians to renegotiate the boundaries of Punic and Greek territory on Sicily and subsequently recognized the old division at the Halycus River. Shortly after saving both Syracuse and Greek Sicily, the much-loved Timoleon was forced to retire from his leadership position in 337 BC due to blindness, and he died shortly thereafter. The types of this coin reflect both the influence of Timoleon and of his Peloponnesian mercenaries. The obverse depicts the head of Zeus Eleutherios (\Zeus of Freedom\\), a god who was invoked for obvious reasons in the context of Timoleon's work to rid the Syracusans of their tyrants. The same head of the god also appears with a full Greek label on bronze coins struck at Syracuse under Timoleon. The Pegasus of the reverse type is derived from the coins of Corinth, which regularly employed it as the badge of the city.
https://vimeo.com/629990351""