Nomos AG
Auction 27 22 May 2023
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SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I, 405-367 BC. Dekadrachm (Silver, 35 mm, 43.42 g, 10 h), unsigned but in the style of Euainetos, circa 400-390 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding goad in his right hand and the reins in his left, driving a racing quadriga to left; above, Nike flying right to crown the charioteer; in the exergue on two steps, a panoply of arms. Rev. Σ-ΥΡΑ-Κ-[Ο-Σ-ΙΩΝ] Head of Kore-Persephone to left, her hair bound in a wreath of (grain) leaves, wearing a pearl necklace and a triple-pendant earring; behind her neck, scallop shell with seven ridges; around, four dolphins. Buceti 571. Gallatin RXIV/F.VIIa (these dies). Gulbenkian 315 (= Ga. 11 same dies). Pozzi 617 (= Ga. 14 same dies). Very attractively toned and well-struck. Obverse struck from a worn die, otherwise, about extremely fine.
Ex Stack's 486, 10 June 1996, 161 and Classical Numismatic Group XXIV, 9 December 1992, 194.
Why in around 400 BC did the Syracusans under Dionysios I change from using a head of Arethusa on their coins, to using a head of Kore-Persephone? This seems clear from the way the head, which had first been simply adorned with a taenia, then with various kinds of ever-more elaborate hair bands, suddenly changes to being crowned with a wreath of grain leaves (they are really not water plants). Why did Arethusa go out of fashion? Could it be that this change was the personal decision of Dionysios as a sign of his power? Was the nymph Arethusa a symbol of a Syracusan government under tyrannical, democratic or oligarchic control, while the head of a much higher ranking goddess served as the badge of a state that was under the ruler with the quasi-monarchical power of Dionysios I? In any case, from this point on Arethusa disappears from the coinage of Syracuse.
Ex Stack's 486, 10 June 1996, 161 and Classical Numismatic Group XXIV, 9 December 1992, 194.
Why in around 400 BC did the Syracusans under Dionysios I change from using a head of Arethusa on their coins, to using a head of Kore-Persephone? This seems clear from the way the head, which had first been simply adorned with a taenia, then with various kinds of ever-more elaborate hair bands, suddenly changes to being crowned with a wreath of grain leaves (they are really not water plants). Why did Arethusa go out of fashion? Could it be that this change was the personal decision of Dionysios as a sign of his power? Was the nymph Arethusa a symbol of a Syracusan government under tyrannical, democratic or oligarchic control, while the head of a much higher ranking goddess served as the badge of a state that was under the ruler with the quasi-monarchical power of Dionysios I? In any case, from this point on Arethusa disappears from the coinage of Syracuse.