Sale: Triton VII, Lot: 114. Estimate $5000.  Closing Date: Monday, 12 January 2004.  Sold For $4600. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

SICILY, Syracuse. Thoenon and Sosistratos. 278 BC. AV Hemistater - Dekadrachm (4.27 gm). Head of Persephone left, hair wreathed in grain ears; B behind / SURAKOSIW[N], Nike driving galloping biga right, holding kentron in right hand, reins in left; star above, countermark on near horse. T.V. Buttrey, "The Morgantina Gold Hoard and the Coinage of Hicetas" in NumChron 1973, dies 6-X; SNG ANS -; SNG Lloyd -; SNG Copenhagen -; Jameson 870 (same dies); Gulbenkian -; W. Giesecke, Sicilia Numismatica pl. 24, 3 = Pozzi 1329 (same dies); Weber -; Hirsch 684 (same dies). EF. Very rare. [See color enlargement on plate 3] ($5000)

From the James A. Ferrendelli Collection.

This enigmatic issue has usually been attributed to the reign of Hieron II, based primarily on the work by Giesecke. B. Carroccio's corpus on the coinage of Hieron, though, has excluded them from his reign. Stylistically, they are most similar to the gold issues of Hiketas, and Buttrey's analysis of their placement stands firm: once the Carthaginians had defeated the army of Hiketas at the Terias river, and laid siege to Syracuse, Thoenon ousted Hiketas from his rule. Afterwards, Thoenon and Sosistratos appealed to Pyrrhos for help, and this issue was likely struck to pay for his assistance. (See Buttrey, supra, pg. 15 note 5, and pg. 16.)