Naxos Drachm circa 461-430, AR 3.77 g. Bearded and ivy-wreathed head of Dionysus r. Rev. N – A – XI – ON Naked, bearded Silenus, with pointed ears, ruffled hair and long tail, facing squatting, the r. leg folded to the side and l. raised. He turns l. towards cantharus in his raised r. hand, while the l. rests on his l. knee, the tail showing behind his l. leg. SNG ANS 518-519 (these dies). Jameson 676 (these dies). SNG Copenhagen 486 (these dies). de Luynes 1064 (these dies). Cahn, Naxos 56 (this coin illustrated).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue, possibly the finest specimen known.
A portrait of enchanting beauty struck on a very broad flan, Wonderful old
cabinet tone and good extremely fine
From the Herbert Herzfelder collection and an Exceptional Collection assembled between the early 70s and late 90s.
Founded along the eastern coast of Sicily within the shadows of Mt. Aitna in 735 BC, Naxos was the oldest Greek colony of the island. Its settlers came from Chalkis in Euboia and from Ionia. Within just a few years, due to its rich volcanic soil and burgeoning viticulture, the colony prospered such that it began founding colonies of its own: first Leontini in 730 BC, and a few years later the colony of Aitne, which subsequently took the name Katane. However, it's flourishing economy attracted the attention of its neighbors, the most powerful of which was Syracuse. In 476 BC, the tyrant of Syracuse, Hieron I, sent his troops to attack the Naxians, and after overwhelming them he removing its citizens to along with those from Katane to Leontini. This was the beginning of the lasting enmity between the neighbors. When Hieron died in 461, the Naxians returned to their city, having formed close alliances with their two colonies. At the end of the fifth century, in 403 BC, Syracuse again gained the upper hand, and after destroying Naxos the Syracusans slaughtered the men and sold the women and children into slavery.
This magnificent drachm, arguably the finest known, copies the types of the city's famous tetradrachm coinage (Cahn 54). The head of Dionysos, crowned with the symbolic ivy-wreath that shows his status as the god of viticulture and drunkenness, takes precedence as the obverse type. The reverse shows Silenos, the oldest and wisest – and also the most inebriated – of the woodland spirits that were human in appearance but with the ears and tails of a horse, and followed Dionysos' female attendants, the mainads, whom they often raped. Here he is shown doing what he did best, drinking from a cantharus full of wine. His expression and pose are those of the deeply inebriated: he is unable to stand so sits sprawled with his legs apart, with his lips puckered to inhale more wine from his cup. Euripides noted in his play, the Cyclops, that Silenos attended Polyphemos, the cyclops blinded by Odysseus. Polyphemos was said to live on the slopes of Mt. Aitna; thus it is another reason the Naxians used Silenos as the reverse type.
Cahn dates this issue to c. 461-430, which suggests that it may have been a celebratory issue struck to promote the city's refoundation after Hieron's death and the return of the exiles. In addition to the drachms, there were also struck a very large output of tetradrachms, litra and hemilitra during this period – all illustrative of the prosperity of the newly refounded colony.
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