Among the Finest Known

Sale: Triton XIII, Lot: 77. Estimate $50000.  Closing Date: Monday, 4 January 2010.  Sold For $60000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Fifth Democracy. 214-212 BC. AR 16 Litrai (13.58 g, 7h). Head of Zeus left, wearing laurel wreath / Nike, holding kentron in right hand, reins in both, driving fast quadriga right; ΣYPAKOΣIΩN above, ΞA below horses. BAR issue 83; Burnett 3; Gulbenkian 358 = Bement 560 = J. Hirsch XXXII (Virzi), lot 397 (same dies). EF. Great metal. Very rare issue, one of only two known of this variety, with the other in a public collection.

The Syracusan ruler Hieron II, a loyal ally of Rome, died in 215 BC while the Romans were locked in a life-and-death struggle with Hannibal of Carthage. Hieron’s son, Gelon, had predeceased him so the throne of Syracuse passed to his grandson, Hieronymos, a youth of only fifteen. The Carthaginian faction in Syracuse persuaded the new ruler to renounce the Roman alliance which his grandfather had so steadfastly maintained, but this soon resulted in a revolution at Syracuse in which Hieronymos and all the members of his family perished. The young king had reigned for a mere thirteen months. Democratic government was reestablished, but the following year the Romans laid siege to the city, and it was sacked following its fall in 211, thus bringing to an end almost three centuries of Syracusan preeminence in the affairs of Greek Sicily.

The three-year period of the restored democracy saw a surprisingly large and varied output of coinage, all the more remarkable as the city was under siege by the Romans throughout most of this episode. The coinage was quite diverse in its denominations, and used all metals: gold, silver, and bronze. Gold is only known in 60 litrai (represented by the present coin), an extremely rare issue, which is only known today from two examples that share a common reverse die. In contrast, the Fifth Democracy silver is exceptionally diverse, with multiples of 2½, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 16 litrai. The bronze also has multiple denominations, with average weights of 1.69, 2.30, 6.66, and 11.28 grams. Throughout the series, the types featured nearly all of the deities who ever graced a Syracusan coin, perhaps in an attempt to appeal to as many of the Olympian gods as possible while the city was imperiled.

This coin is the largest denomination of silver of the Fifth Democracy, the 16 litrai. On previous issues at Syracuse, Zeus had been relegated to bronze issues, and only during the previous democracies. Here, Zeus is fittingly represented on the most prestigious silver coin in the series. Although he has no epithet on this issue, in the past he was given the names Eleutherios (The Liberator) and Hellanios (Greek), both of which would be suitable in light of the present threat of Roman domination. The portrait may also be of Zeus Strategos (The General), who was represented in full figure on the reverse of the silver 10 litrai pieces. The reverse, with Nike driving a chariot, is a traditional type appearing on various issues of Syracuse since the late 4th century BC.

The 16 litrai series comprises two types, distinguished by the movement of the quadriga, slow (Burnett 1) or fast (Burnett 2-3). Of the fast quadriga types, there are two varieties of control markings, ΞA (Burnett 2) or YA-Σ-Λ (Burnett 3). Including the present piece, there are 14 pieces known in the entire series, with 5 of the slow quadriga type, 2 of the fast-ΞA variety, and 7 of the fast-YA-Σ-Λ variety. Eight of the 14 coins are in public collections. This piece is among the very finest of the 14 known of all types.