Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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SICILY. Naxos. Circa 530-510 BC. Litra (Silver, 11.5 mm, 0.68 g, 1 h), possibly a contemporary imitation, see the note below. Head of Dionysos to right, with pointed beard and ivy wreath; border of dots. Rev. ΝΑ - ΧΙΟΝ Bunch of grapes; border of dots between two linear circles. Bérend, Réflexions p. 11 and pl. 2, 4. Buceti -, but cf. 3, a hemilitra (0.37 g) struck from the same dies. Cahn -. Of great rarity, probably unique as a litra. An elegant and toned coin of considerable interest. Minor marks, otherwise, about extremely fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, and from the collection of Leo Mildenberg.
What is this coin? Is it from Naxos or could it be a very skillful contemporary imitation made nearby? A number of factors mark it off from all the 'normal' Archaic issues of Naxos: the head of Dionysos faces right, rather than left; and the legend breaks ΝΑ-ΧΙΟΝ rather than ΝΑΧ-ΙΟΝ. These may seem minor variants but the coinage of Naxos was, from the beginning, very well organised and such 'mistakes' or die variants would have been most unexpected (the direction and legend did change in the early Classical period). In addition, given the lower weight of the Buceti example (wouldn't it be nice if he provided the sources of his photographs!), we have to assume that the user was meant to view the coins as two separate denominations, even though struck from the same pair of dies! This is also unheard of for a normal issue of Naxos. Yet the overall style is very good: thus, it could be an experimental issue from Naxos, but it could just as well be a contemporary imitation struck nearby, by a city subject to Naxian influence.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, and from the collection of Leo Mildenberg.
What is this coin? Is it from Naxos or could it be a very skillful contemporary imitation made nearby? A number of factors mark it off from all the 'normal' Archaic issues of Naxos: the head of Dionysos faces right, rather than left; and the legend breaks ΝΑ-ΧΙΟΝ rather than ΝΑΧ-ΙΟΝ. These may seem minor variants but the coinage of Naxos was, from the beginning, very well organised and such 'mistakes' or die variants would have been most unexpected (the direction and legend did change in the early Classical period). In addition, given the lower weight of the Buceti example (wouldn't it be nice if he provided the sources of his photographs!), we have to assume that the user was meant to view the coins as two separate denominations, even though struck from the same pair of dies! This is also unheard of for a normal issue of Naxos. Yet the overall style is very good: thus, it could be an experimental issue from Naxos, but it could just as well be a contemporary imitation struck nearby, by a city subject to Naxian influence.