Roma Numismatics Ltd
The Anders Collection 8 Sep 2022
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Sicily, Panormos (as Ziz) AR Tetradrachm. Circa 405-380 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in left hand, reins in both, driving fast quadriga to right; above, Nike flying left, crowning charioteer with wreath she holds with both hands; hippocamp swimming to right in exergue, Punic ṢYṢ before / Head of nymph to left, wearing sphendone, triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace; four dolphins around. Jenkins, Punic 33 (O8/R28); SNG Lloyd 1584 (same dies); De Luynes 1084 (same dies); HGC 2, 1011. 16.25g, 25mm, 9h.
Good Very Fine.
From the Anders Collection, collector's tickets included.
The city that would eventually come to be known as Panormos (Greek: 'sheltered harbour') was originally founded in c. 734 BC by Phoenicians from Tyre, who established on the site a flourishing merchant colony which they named Ziz (Punic: 'flower'). It was the most important of the three colonies forming the 'Phoenician Triangle' cited by Thucydides, the others being Motya and Solus. The remains of the earliest Phoenician presence are few however, and mostly preserved in or below the very populated centre of the downtown area, and little excavation has been conducted on account of such efforts being costly and logistically difficult. Like Neapolis in Campania, (Naples), the city had two hearts - the first settlement was known as Paleapolis (literally, 'Old City'), in order to distinguish it from a second settlement built during the 5th century BC, called Neapolis ('New City'). Neapolis was erected towards the east of Paleapolis, and along with it monumental walls were thrown up around the whole settlement to guard against attack from the landward sides.
The influence of Greek designs on the Punic coinage of Sicily is particularly evident on this type. Jenkins identifies the reverse portrait as being a "closely copied" portrait of Arethusa on Kimon's decadrachm (Coins of Punic Sicily, SNR 50, 1971, p. 41). It has also been noted that the obverse is a copy of the work of 'Euth-', who produced a radical, energetic die (Tudeer obv. die 15) at Syracuse, a work whose key elements are reproduced here. It is a relatively free interpretation of 'Euth-'; gone are the wings of the charioteer and the Skylla; instead of this symbol of Syracuse we see a hippocamp, perhaps taken from the coinage of either Himera or Messana, and in the place of the artist's signature on the original is the Punic ethnic 'Ziz'. Inspired by these types, the artist or artists responsible for this coin have produced immensely beautiful dies that are amongst the very finest in the whole Siculo-Punic series.
Good Very Fine.
From the Anders Collection, collector's tickets included.
The city that would eventually come to be known as Panormos (Greek: 'sheltered harbour') was originally founded in c. 734 BC by Phoenicians from Tyre, who established on the site a flourishing merchant colony which they named Ziz (Punic: 'flower'). It was the most important of the three colonies forming the 'Phoenician Triangle' cited by Thucydides, the others being Motya and Solus. The remains of the earliest Phoenician presence are few however, and mostly preserved in or below the very populated centre of the downtown area, and little excavation has been conducted on account of such efforts being costly and logistically difficult. Like Neapolis in Campania, (Naples), the city had two hearts - the first settlement was known as Paleapolis (literally, 'Old City'), in order to distinguish it from a second settlement built during the 5th century BC, called Neapolis ('New City'). Neapolis was erected towards the east of Paleapolis, and along with it monumental walls were thrown up around the whole settlement to guard against attack from the landward sides.
The influence of Greek designs on the Punic coinage of Sicily is particularly evident on this type. Jenkins identifies the reverse portrait as being a "closely copied" portrait of Arethusa on Kimon's decadrachm (Coins of Punic Sicily, SNR 50, 1971, p. 41). It has also been noted that the obverse is a copy of the work of 'Euth-', who produced a radical, energetic die (Tudeer obv. die 15) at Syracuse, a work whose key elements are reproduced here. It is a relatively free interpretation of 'Euth-'; gone are the wings of the charioteer and the Skylla; instead of this symbol of Syracuse we see a hippocamp, perhaps taken from the coinage of either Himera or Messana, and in the place of the artist's signature on the original is the Punic ethnic 'Ziz'. Inspired by these types, the artist or artists responsible for this coin have produced immensely beautiful dies that are amongst the very finest in the whole Siculo-Punic series.