The Reign of Agathokles

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 68. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $12000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC. AR Tetradrachm (17.28 g, 3h). Struck circa 317-310 BC. Head of Arethusa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; three dolphins around, ligate NK below neck / Charioteer, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; triskeles above, ΣYPAKOΣIΩN and monogram in exergue. Ierardi 9 (O2/R5); SNG ANS 637 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 1477 (same obv. die); SNG Fitzwilliam 1327 (same dies); Boston MFA 458 (same dies). Superb EF, lovely old cabinet toning, slight double strike. Well centered and struck on a broad flan.

Ex Freeman & Sear FPL 11 (Spring/Summer 2006), no. 16; New York Sale I (3 December 1998), lot 66.

Agathokles was born in Himera circa 361 BC, the son of a potter who moved the family to Syracuse in the 340's BC. Tiring of his father's trade, Agathokles became a soldier, and quickly established himself as a able leader. At the head of a mercenary army, in 317 BC Agathokles seized control of Syracuse in a bloody coup. Over the next few years, he built up his army and created a formidable navy, and used them to expand his power base throughout Sicily. This inevitably led him into conflict with Carthage, which still controlled territory in western Sicily. The war lasted from 311-306 BC, and only resulted in each side becoming more entrenched in their respective parts of Sicily, with the border between them established along the Halycus River. In 304 BC, imitating the famous Diadochs in the east, Agathokles declared himself king of Sicily, though his power only extended across the eastern part of the island. His later years were more concerned with the consolidation of his power, and less concerned with expansion. Seeing that none of his progeny could effectively rule in his place, in 289 BC, upon his death bed, Agathokles restored the Syracusan democracy. The coinage of Syracuse during Agathokles' reign saw a flowering of new types and denominations. While he retained some of the traditional Syracusan types, such as the head of Arethusa surrounded by dolphins, most of his coins presented new types that were more in line with the royal issues throughout the Greek kingdoms to the east. Herakles, Apollo, and Athena were commonly found on his issues, and he even issued an unprecedented series of electrum, a metal that had not been used before at Syracuse. As would be expected, his final phase of coinage saw the royal title used for the first time on coins of Syracuse, a trend that continued on many issues under the city's subsequent monarchs.