Roma Numismatics Ltd
E-Sale 104 15 Dec 2022
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Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Time of the Second Democracy, circa 420 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving slow quadriga to right; Nike flying to left above, crowning charioteer with wreath / Head of Arethusa to right, wearing hook earrings and necklace with lion-head pendant, hair enveloped in sakkos drawn together at top and decorated with a maeander pattern above chevrons; [four] dolphins and ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟ[Ν] around. Boehringer 699 (V345/R477); SNG ANS 234 (same dies); HGC 2, 1322. 17.43g, 24mm, 6h.
Very Fine; struck in high relief, with a light cabinet tone.
From the David Redman Collection, collector's ticket included;
Ex Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 348, 8 May 2019, lot 227;
Ex R. P. Collection, acquired from Numismatica Viscontea S.r.l., Milan, in 1991.
The reverse of this tetradrachm depicts Arethusa wearing an intricately detailed sakkos (a form of ornamental hair-net), with a detailed chevron and maeander patterned band around. This coin, and the Syracusan series in general, afford the modern observer an intriguing indicator of the changing fashions of the time. Greek women had traditionally covered their heads in a variety of manners from around 500 BC, with evidence of a variety of headdresses being found on sculpture, in surviving texts and of course on numismatic representations. The sakkos in particular could be either a soft woven cap or a loose piece of material wrapped around the head, but in either case it initially completely covered their hair which was tied up in a bun underneath. The sphendone, which was a less restrictive headdress, was in effect a scarf wound around the head that covered only the lower portion of the hair-bun and allowed for more feminine styling. Both the sakkos and the sphendone declined in popularity in the late fourth century.
Very Fine; struck in high relief, with a light cabinet tone.
From the David Redman Collection, collector's ticket included;
Ex Gerhard Hirsch Nachfolger, Auction 348, 8 May 2019, lot 227;
Ex R. P. Collection, acquired from Numismatica Viscontea S.r.l., Milan, in 1991.
The reverse of this tetradrachm depicts Arethusa wearing an intricately detailed sakkos (a form of ornamental hair-net), with a detailed chevron and maeander patterned band around. This coin, and the Syracusan series in general, afford the modern observer an intriguing indicator of the changing fashions of the time. Greek women had traditionally covered their heads in a variety of manners from around 500 BC, with evidence of a variety of headdresses being found on sculpture, in surviving texts and of course on numismatic representations. The sakkos in particular could be either a soft woven cap or a loose piece of material wrapped around the head, but in either case it initially completely covered their hair which was tied up in a bun underneath. The sphendone, which was a less restrictive headdress, was in effect a scarf wound around the head that covered only the lower portion of the hair-bun and allowed for more feminine styling. Both the sakkos and the sphendone declined in popularity in the late fourth century.