Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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SICILY. Naxos. Circa 530-510 BC. Litra (Silver, 12 mm, 0.84 g, 4 h). Head of Dionysos to left, wearing an ivy wreath and with a pointed beard; all within a circle of dots. Rev. ΝΑΧ-ΙΟΝ (retrograde) Bunch of grapes on stalk; all within circle of dots. Buceti 2. Cahn 12 (V8/R11). Rare. Of attractive and appealing Archaic style, nicely toned. Good very fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, and from the collection of N. B. Hunt, II, Sotheby's New York, 21 June 1990, 239, ex Numismatic Fine Arts X, 17 September 1981, 44 ($5720).
The coinage of Sicilian Naxos is iconographically focused on the head of its patron god, Dionysos. In style they range from late Archaic heads like this one and the three following lots (157-159), with their pointed beards and other-worldly expressions; to the early Classical bearded head on lot 160 and his noble later Classical counterpart on lot 161; and to the suddenly youthful, beardless, fully Classical version on lot 162.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, and from the collection of N. B. Hunt, II, Sotheby's New York, 21 June 1990, 239, ex Numismatic Fine Arts X, 17 September 1981, 44 ($5720).
The coinage of Sicilian Naxos is iconographically focused on the head of its patron god, Dionysos. In style they range from late Archaic heads like this one and the three following lots (157-159), with their pointed beards and other-worldly expressions; to the early Classical bearded head on lot 160 and his noble later Classical counterpart on lot 161; and to the suddenly youthful, beardless, fully Classical version on lot 162.