Heritage World Coin Auctions
NYINC Signature Sale 3037 Sess. 2-4 5 January 2015
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SICILY. Syracuse. Time of Dionysius I (406-367 BC). AR decadrachm (33mm, 43.16 gm, 12h). Reverse die signed by Euainetos, ca. 400 BC. Racing quadriga driven left by charioteer, holding reins and kentron; in field above, Nike flying right to crown him; in exergue, military arms, including aspis (shield), greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all joined by horizontal spear, ΑΘΛΑ ("prizes") below / ΣΥ − ΡΑ − ΚΟΣ − ΙΩΝ, Head of Arethusa left, hair wreathed in barley ears, wearing triple pendant earring and beaded necklace, four dolphins around, die-engraver's signature EY – AINE below bottom dolphin. Gallatin C. VIII – R.IIII. SNG Fitzwilliam 1275 (these dies). HGC 2, 1299. Struck on an immense flan from fresh dies in sound metal. A lovely specimen of the most artistically acclaimed coin in all history! NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Ex NAC 72 (Zurich, 13 May 2013), lot 329; "from a Swiss private collection."Widely considered to be the most beautiful coins ever struck, the immense silver decadrachms of Syracuse from the later fifth century BC represent the full flowering of classical Greek sculptural art. Syracuse, the foremost Greek city in Sicily, had produced coins of exceptional beauty for nearly a century when, ca. 415 BC, engravers began signing their coin dies. Chief among these were the master engravers Cimon and Euainetos, whose large silver decadrachms seemed to capture the spirit of the artistic and intellectual revolution then sweeping the Greek world. The obverse of these pieces depicts a four-horse racing chariot, or quadriga, in full career to left while Nike, goddess of Victory, flies above to crown the driver with a laurel wreath. Below this scene is a set of Greek armor offered as a prize to the victorious charioteer. The reverse depicts a beautiful head of Arethusa, nymph of a sacred spring, with dolphins frolicking around her. This exceptional decadrachm clearly shows the signature of Euainetos (abbreviated EY-AINE) below Arethusa's neck. The decadrachm of Euainetos became a widely-copied archetype for Greek coinage, and the master engraver's head of Arethusa remains a paradigm of cool, classical beauty today.
Estimate: 50000-65000 USD
SICILY. Syracuse. Time of Dionysius I (406-367 BC). AR decadrachm (33mm, 43.16 gm, 12h). Reverse die signed by Euainetos, ca. 400 BC. Racing quadriga driven left by charioteer, holding reins and kentron; in field above, Nike flying right to crown him; in exergue, military arms, including aspis (shield), greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all joined by horizontal spear, ΑΘΛΑ ("prizes") below / ΣΥ − ΡΑ − ΚΟΣ − ΙΩΝ, Head of Arethusa left, hair wreathed in barley ears, wearing triple pendant earring and beaded necklace, four dolphins around, die-engraver's signature EY – AINE below bottom dolphin. Gallatin C. VIII – R.IIII. SNG Fitzwilliam 1275 (these dies). HGC 2, 1299. Struck on an immense flan from fresh dies in sound metal. A lovely specimen of the most artistically acclaimed coin in all history! NGC XF★ 5/5 - 5/5, Fine Style.From The California Collection. Ex NAC 72 (Zurich, 13 May 2013), lot 329; "from a Swiss private collection."Widely considered to be the most beautiful coins ever struck, the immense silver decadrachms of Syracuse from the later fifth century BC represent the full flowering of classical Greek sculptural art. Syracuse, the foremost Greek city in Sicily, had produced coins of exceptional beauty for nearly a century when, ca. 415 BC, engravers began signing their coin dies. Chief among these were the master engravers Cimon and Euainetos, whose large silver decadrachms seemed to capture the spirit of the artistic and intellectual revolution then sweeping the Greek world. The obverse of these pieces depicts a four-horse racing chariot, or quadriga, in full career to left while Nike, goddess of Victory, flies above to crown the driver with a laurel wreath. Below this scene is a set of Greek armor offered as a prize to the victorious charioteer. The reverse depicts a beautiful head of Arethusa, nymph of a sacred spring, with dolphins frolicking around her. This exceptional decadrachm clearly shows the signature of Euainetos (abbreviated EY-AINE) below Arethusa's neck. The decadrachm of Euainetos became a widely-copied archetype for Greek coinage, and the master engraver's head of Arethusa remains a paradigm of cool, classical beauty today.
Estimate: 50000-65000 USD