367, Lot: 75. Estimate $100. Sold for $60. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Messana. The Mamertinoi. 215-212 BC. Æ Dichalkon (22mm, 8.27 g, 7h). Head of Herakles right, wearing lion’s skin / Artemis, with bow and quiver over shoulder, advancing right, holding long torch in both hands; hound at side. Särström Series XVIIA; BAR Issue 13; CNS 44; HGC 2, 857; Virzi 1258 (this coin). Near VF, rough green and reddish-brown patina.

From the Edgar L. Owen Collection. Ex Thomas Virzi Collection (1881-1974), 1258.

Thomas Virzi (1881-1974) was an assistant to the renowned Dr. Jacob Hirsch and sold a portion of his collection of Sicilian and Southern Italian bronzes with that firm in 1907. Additional coins were sold privately after his death, as well as in Leu 6 (8 May 1973) and Malloy XVII (1 December 1980). The only complete record of his important collection is a series of plates illustrating 2238 pieces.