Sale: CNG 64, Lot: 53. Estimate $750.  Closing Date: Wednesday, 24 September 2003.  Sold For $1100. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Zankle-Messana. Under Samian Rule. Circa 493-488 BC. AR Diobol (1.15 gm). Facing lion's scalp / Prow of a Samaina left; Corinthian helmet before. SNG ANS 309. Toned VF. Very rare. ($750)

Contemporary with this issue, in 493 BC, Zankle found itself betrayed by a group of Samian refugees, who had been invited to settle nearby after Samos fell to the Persians. They chose instead to seize the undefended city itself, at the behest of Anaxilas of Region. Upon doing so, the Samians betrayed Anaxilas, and allied themselves with Hippocrates of Gela. Around 488 BC, Anaxilas suppressed the Samian rulers, seized Zankle, and resettled it with colonists from Peloponnesian Messenia. In honor of their loyalty, Anaxilas renamed the city Messana, after their homeland.