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CSNS Signature Sale 3107 3-5 May 2023
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Ancients
SICILY. Syracuse. Unsigned dies by Kimon, ca. 405-400 BC. AR decadrachm (40mm, 43.21 gm, 9h). NGC Choice XF★ 4/5 - 5/5, Fine Style. Racing quadriga driven left by charioteer, reins in left hand, kentron in right; Nike flying right in field above to crown him, military arms, including aspis (shield), greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all joined by horizontal spear, ΑΘΛΑ ("prizes") all below thick exergual line, dotted border / ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩN, head of Arethusa left, wearing single-pendant earring and beaded necklace, curly hair confined by ampyx and net sphendone; four dolphins swimming around, dotted border. Jongkees 9s (this coin). Regling 9h (this coin). Dewing 871. Gulbenkian 305. Jameson 820. HGC 2, 1298. Struck on a massive, medallic flan with the entirety of the reverse displayed, and nearly the full obverse as well, including the entirety of the legend in the exergue. Exceptionally attractive.
Ex Freeman & Sear, private sale with old dealer's tags; Countess Zichy Collection (LHS Numismatik, Auction 95, 25 October 2005), lot 525; Jacob Hirsch, Auction VII (2 June 1902), lot 133
Syracuse had been striking its own coins for about a century, when in circa 405 BC it began issuing the stunning series of silver decadrachms by Kimon and Euainetos. These huge, impressive coins were struck in considerable numbers, probably to pay the Greek mercenary soldiers who flooded Sicily to fight the expanding power of Carthage. They stand at the pinnacle of Greek numismatic achievement and served as a paradigm for Hellenistic art in the ages to follow. Kimon's decadrachm design, as exemplified by this impressive piece, features a highly individualized and realistic head of Arethusa, clearly modeled on a real-life Greco-Sicilian woman. Her hair is bound in an elaborate jeweled net and a wide hairband, or ampyx. On the obverse, Kimon's four-horse chariot races to the left at breakneck speed while the goddess Nike flies serenely above, reaching out with a laurel wreath to crown the victorious charioteer. Below this scene, in the exergue beneath the ground line, are arrayed the prize trophies - a military cuirass, greaves and a helmet, labeled ΑΘΛΑ ("athla") or prizes, from which the term athlete derives.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-sicily-syracuse-unsigned-dies-by-kimon-ca-405-400-bc-ar-decadrachm-40mm-4321-gm-9h-ngc-choice-xfand-9733-/a/3107-30001.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 150000-200000 USD
SICILY. Syracuse. Unsigned dies by Kimon, ca. 405-400 BC. AR decadrachm (40mm, 43.21 gm, 9h). NGC Choice XF★ 4/5 - 5/5, Fine Style. Racing quadriga driven left by charioteer, reins in left hand, kentron in right; Nike flying right in field above to crown him, military arms, including aspis (shield), greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all joined by horizontal spear, ΑΘΛΑ ("prizes") all below thick exergual line, dotted border / ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩN, head of Arethusa left, wearing single-pendant earring and beaded necklace, curly hair confined by ampyx and net sphendone; four dolphins swimming around, dotted border. Jongkees 9s (this coin). Regling 9h (this coin). Dewing 871. Gulbenkian 305. Jameson 820. HGC 2, 1298. Struck on a massive, medallic flan with the entirety of the reverse displayed, and nearly the full obverse as well, including the entirety of the legend in the exergue. Exceptionally attractive.
Ex Freeman & Sear, private sale with old dealer's tags; Countess Zichy Collection (LHS Numismatik, Auction 95, 25 October 2005), lot 525; Jacob Hirsch, Auction VII (2 June 1902), lot 133
Syracuse had been striking its own coins for about a century, when in circa 405 BC it began issuing the stunning series of silver decadrachms by Kimon and Euainetos. These huge, impressive coins were struck in considerable numbers, probably to pay the Greek mercenary soldiers who flooded Sicily to fight the expanding power of Carthage. They stand at the pinnacle of Greek numismatic achievement and served as a paradigm for Hellenistic art in the ages to follow. Kimon's decadrachm design, as exemplified by this impressive piece, features a highly individualized and realistic head of Arethusa, clearly modeled on a real-life Greco-Sicilian woman. Her hair is bound in an elaborate jeweled net and a wide hairband, or ampyx. On the obverse, Kimon's four-horse chariot races to the left at breakneck speed while the goddess Nike flies serenely above, reaching out with a laurel wreath to crown the victorious charioteer. Below this scene, in the exergue beneath the ground line, are arrayed the prize trophies - a military cuirass, greaves and a helmet, labeled ΑΘΛΑ ("athla") or prizes, from which the term athlete derives.
https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-sicily-syracuse-unsigned-dies-by-kimon-ca-405-400-bc-ar-decadrachm-40mm-4321-gm-9h-ngc-choice-xfand-9733-/a/3107-30001.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3107-05032023
HID02906262019
© 2022 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 150000-200000 USD