Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles. Æ Litra (6.80 g), 317-289 BC. Ca. 308/7 BC. ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, diademed youthful head of Herakles right; behind, tripod. Reverse: The Nemean lion standing right, raising foreleg; club above, race torch in exergue. BAR Issue 24; CNS 151 Ds 110 Rs 50; Virzi 1662 (this coin); HGC 2, 1465 (Fourth Democracy). NGC grade ChXF; Strike: 5/5, Surface: 4/5. Flan flaw While the NGC insert mentions a flan flaw, we don't see one on this coin. We do note a small die-break on the reverse above the lion. Estimated Value $400 - UP
Although this coin has often been attributed to the Syracusan tyranny of Agathokles, the legend naming the Syracusans strongly suggests that it was actually produced under the fleeting fourth Syracusan democracy. After ruling as tyrant (317-289 BC) and self-proclaimed king of Sicily (304-289 BC), Agathokles restored a democratic constitution to Syracuse on his deathbed out of fear that he would be succeeded by his grandson Archagathos the younger. The latter was widely suspected of having poisoned his grandfather in order to seize power and avenge his own father, whom Agathokles had abandoned to his fate in North Africa in the aftermath of his abortive campaign against Carthage. The types depicting Herakles and the Nemean lion advertise the Doric Greek ancestry of the Syracusans (the Dorians claimed descent from the Heraklidai—the children of Herakles). The representation of the hero as a youth wearing a tainia, rather than the lion skin that was so popular on contemporary silver coinage, may perhaps have served as a crypto-portrait of Agathokles wearing the diadem of kingship.
Purchased privately from Edward J. Waddell, 30 September 2001. Ex Virzi Collection.