302, Lot: 32. Estimate $200. Sold for $475. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Messana. 478-476 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 16.96 g, 5h). Charioteer driving biga of mules right; leaf in exergue / Hare springing right. Caltabiano B1 (‘Barbarous’; same dies as illustration); SNG ANS –; SNG Tübingen 605 (same dies); Weber 1412 (same dies); HGC 2, 779. Near EF, toned.

The types on this issue is analogous to Caltabiano’s Series IIB tetradrachms. Although she notes that this issue could easily be assigned to the official issues of Messana, Caltabiano designates it as barbarous based on two ‘anomalies’: the odd style of the hare and the rendering of the letter N in the legend. Her argument, however, is unconvincing. While the features of the hare are more schematized compared to the other Series IIB examples, it is not so unusual that it suggests it is the product of an unofficial die. In fact, there is considerable variation among many of the dies. The same can be said of the epigraphy. The Ns are often rendered in retrograde form, and although on this issue they are more skewed than on others, it is again only a matter of degree. They just do not seem that unusual. Moreover, all of the other letters are in perfect accordance with the epigraphic style found on all of the other Series IIB tetradrachms. The fact that both of these relatively minor ‘anomalies’ are found on a single die suggests, more likely, that this is merely the result of an inexperienced or careless die engraver.