Sale: Nomos 3 & 4, Lot: 12. Estimate CHF30000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 May 2011.  Sold For CHF34000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Akragas. Circa 465/4-446 BC. Teradrachm (Silver, 17.47 g 7). ΑΚΡΑC - ΑΝΤΟC (partially retrograde) Eagle standing left with closed wings. Rev. Crab, with a shell that has the appearance of a human face, within a shallow circular incuse. Gulbenkian 161 (same dies). Jameson 2414 (this coin). SNG ANS 973 (same dies). SNG Lloyd 804 (same dies). A splendid piece, lightly toned. Extremely fine.

From the SF Collection, USA, and that of R. Jameson.

The crab’s shell on this coin has the appearance of a human face and is a typical example of how the Greeks could transform normal animals into quasi-mythological creatures. Other crabs from Akragas have been posited to have bucrania on them (as Gulbenkian 157-159).