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Research Coins: Feature Auction

 

Exceptional Dekadrachm

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 65. Estimate $30000. 
Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010. 
Sold For $55000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. AR Dekadrachm (43.52 g, 2h). Unsigned dies in the style of Euainetos. Struck circa 405-400 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath; below heavy exergual line, [a military harness], shield, greaves, cuirass, and Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; [AΘΛA below] / Head of Arethusa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and necklace; Σ-Y-PA-K-O-Σ-IΩN above, scallop shell behind neck, four dolphins around. Gallatin dies R.XIV/F.VIIA; SNG ANS 373 (same dies); SNG Lloyd -; Dewing 912 (same dies); Gulbenkian 315 (same dies); Pozzi 617 (same dies). EF, lightly toned, slight die shift at right periphery on obverse. An exceptional piece, well centered and struck, and with only a trace of the usual die rust.


Ex Classical Numismatic Review XXIII.2 (Fall/Winter 1998), no. 13.

Undoubtedly one of the most celebrated coins of antiquity, the designs of the Syracusan dekadrachm influenced engravers throughout the Greek world and beyond for generations to come.