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SICILY, Akragas. Circa 420-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm (29mm, 16.93 g, 6h). Sea eagle, wings raised, standing left on, and tearing at, dead hare, upturned left on rock below; Å˚rÅ˝-Řt5˜-o-˜ around, Crab; scallop shell to left, conch shell to right; below, grouper left. Westermark, Period III, 530.13 (O1/R2) = Schwartz & Mildenberg pp. 57–8, 3 = Kraay & Hirmer 173 = Mionnet 39 (this coin); HGC 2, 81; SNG Lloyd 822; ACGC 793 = Ward 140; Basel 257; BMC 59; Boston MFA 235 = Warren 201; Gulbenkian 164 = Locker Lampson 59; Jameson 508; McClean 2044; Winterthur 577 = Pozzi 390 (all from the same dies). Attractive old cabinet tone, slight die shift and a few light marks under tone on reverse. Good VF. Rare.
Ex Max Hirmer Collection, purchased from Bank Leu, 10 March 1961; Münzen und Medaillen AG inventory (1947); deaccessioned from the Départment des Monnaies, Médailles et Antiques, Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Fonds Générale 88; publ. in 1807 by Mionnet).
Akragas was founded in about 580 BC and quickly grew into one of the most prosperous Greco-Sicilian cities, with a population in the hundreds of thousands. Its wealth derived from the rich soil fed by the River Hypsas, productive tidepools, and trade. From its earliest coinage, struck circa 510 BC, Akragas featured the eagle, sacred to Olympian Zeus, to whom the city dedicated an immense temple, backed with an overhead view of a crab, harvested as a delicacy in the region. As the city's wealth and influence increased, the basic design was augmented and improved, with artistic achievement reaching its zenith in the period 420-406 BC, when this rare and remarkable piece was struck. Here the eagle has just snatched up its prey, a hare (symbol of the Sicilian city of Messana -- perhaps a sly allusion to civic rivalry?), and slammed it back onto a tidepool rock to which a scallop shell has attached itself, a scene of “nature red in tooth and claw” captured with a keen eye for detail and rendered with astonishing skill. On the reverse, the crab is joined on the sea bottom by a large, wide-mouthed fish with a spiny dorsal fin and fan-like tail, a rendering lifelike enough to identify the species as the stone grouper (polyprion cernium). To the left and right are another scallop and a sea snail, further symbols of aquatic bounty. The superb artistry of this particular piece was celebrated by its inclusion in Kraay & Hirmer’s Greek Coins (Thames & Hudson, 1966), a magnificent “coffee table book” of the finest in Greek numismatics that has achieved legendary status.
The final winners of all Triton XXVI lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 10-11 January 2023.
Triton XXVI – Session One – Lots 1-334 will be held Tuesday morning, 10 January 2023 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.
Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.
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