Ex Selinus Hoard

5697190.

SICILY, Selinos. Circa 540-515 BC. AR Didrachm (24.5mm, 8.73 g). Selinon leaf / Incuse square divided into twelve sections. Arnold-Biucchi Group 1; Selinus Hoard 28 (this coin); HGC 2, 1211. Attractive iridescent tone, underlying luster, a couple of die breaks and light scratch on reverse. EF. Struck on a broad flan.

Ex Neale Collection; Numismatica Genevensis SA 12 (18 November 2019), lot 110; Numismatic Fine Arts XXV (29 November 1990), lot 28; Selinunte, Sicily, 1985 Hoard (CH VIII, 35).

Situated on the southwest coast of Sicily at the mouth of the Selinunte River, Selinos was founded by Dorian colonists from Megara Hyblaia, a town on the eastern coast of the island. Selinos is believed to be the first city on Sicily to strike coins, introducing its didrachms circa 540 BC, less than a decade after Aegina had introduced the concept of coinage to Europe. Based on the Corinthian weight standard, the initial coinage of Selinos regularly featured a tri-lobed wild parsley leaf, since the ancient Greek name for this, selinos, provided an allusive pun on the town’s name.