Triton XVI, Lot: 233. Estimate $30000. Sold for $27000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. AR Dekadrachm (34mm, 42.69 g, 10h). Reverse die signed by Euainetos. Struck circa 404-390 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, [military harness, shield], greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; [AΘΛA below] / Head of Arethusa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; [ΣΥ-ΡΑ-Κ-ΟΣ-ΙΩΝ above], Δ below chin, four swimming dolphins around, and EY-AINE along lower edge. Gallatin dies R.IX/D.II; Rizzo pl. LIV, 5 and pl. LVI, 5; SNG ANS –; SNG Lloyd 1413; Dewing 898–900; Basel 481; BMC 173; Boston MFA 425; Hunterian 53 (all from the same dies). Near EF, toned, minor porosity and die rust.

Ex Berk BBS 148 (29 March 2006), lot 78.

Dionysios assumed power in 405 BC and immediately set out to make Syracuse the greatest and best fortified city in all of Greece. He was defending against the renewed imperialistic expansion of Carthage. Three times he defeated the Carthaginians, bringing further prestige and wealth to Syracuse. During his reign, the Syracuse navy became the most powerful in the Mediterranean, allowing Syracuse to expand her territorial control over much of southern Italy.

Dionysios reintroduced the large and ostentatious silver dekadrachms, a denomination that had not been used in Syracuse since the issue of the Demareteion decades earlier. Dionysios entrusted two of the greatest local numismatic artists, Kimon and Euainetos, to design these impressive pieces. The regard for these coins in modern times is reflected by the fact that they are considered a must for any first rank collection of Greek coins.