Rare Rendition of Arethusa

CNG 94, Lot: 104. Estimate $3000. Sold for $7000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Hieron I. 478-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (22mm, 16.99 g, 11h). Struck circa 478-475 BC. Charioteer, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left, driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike, with wings spread, flying right, crowning horses with wreath held in both hands / Head of Arethusa right, hair in band and pearl diadem, wearing pearl necklace; ΣVRAK-OΣ-I-O-N and four dolphins around. Boehringer Series VIIIa, 114 (V52/R79); HGC 2, 1306; SNG München 936 (same dies); Gorny & Mosch 155, lot 127 (same dies). Good VF, toned. Struck from fine style dies. Very rare, the finest of only three examples recorded from this reverse die (one in a public collection [Munich]), none in the Randazzo, Ognina, and Cosimo hoards.

The depictions of Arethusa on this, and the following coin, are unusual in that in addition to her typical pearl diadem, she also has her hair in a band. While this band often appears in her portraits during the mid-late 4th century, it is very rare during the earlier periods with her archaic head.