From the Jameson Collection

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 30. Estimate $7500.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $8500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Akragas. Circa 465/4-446 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.47 g, 7h). Sea eagle standing left; AKRAC-ANTOΣ around (partially retrograde) / Crab, whose shell has the features of a human face; all within shallow incuse circle. Lee Group I; SNG ANS 973 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 804 (same dies); Gulbenkian 161 (same dies); Jameson 2414 (this coin). Near EF, lightly toned, a few light marks.

Ex R. Jameson Collection, 2414.

Because of its manner of formation, it is not usual to find the carapace of a crab taking on an appearance resembling that of a human head. Although no Greek mythology exists to explain this phenomenon, a similar aetiological tale does exist in Japanese mythology for the heike crab, a local species whose carapace does resemble that of a scowling warrior’s face. These crabs are believed to be reincarnations of the Heike warriors who, defeated by the Minamoto at the Battle of Dan-no-ura (1185), drowned themselves rather than surrender.