Sale: Nomos 8, Lot: 55. Estimate CHF30000.  Closing Date: Monday, 21 October 2013.  Sold For CHF42000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysios I. 405-367 BC. Dekadrachm (Silver, 34mm, 43.25 g 10), unsigned but in the style of Euainetos, c. 400-390 BC. Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding goad in his right hand and the reins in his left, driving a racing quadriga to left; above, Nike flying right to crown the charioteer; in the exergue on two steps, a panoply of arms. Rev. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ Head of Kore-Persephone to left, her hair bound in a wreath of reeds, wearing a pearl necklace and a triple-pendant earring; behind her neck, scallop shell; around, four dolphins. Gallatin R XVIII/FVIIA. Gulbenkian 315 (same reverse die). A lovely example. Lightly toned and beautifully struck. Extremely fine.

From an American collection.

The freshness and beauty of this coin is quite remarkable. The large size of dekadrachm dies allowed their engravers to not merely enlarge the designs of tetradrachms, but to expand them and make the iconography more complete and attractive. As this coin shows, the heads of Arethusa that appear on them are often breathtaking in their high relief and elegance.