SICILY. Selinus. Ca. 540-480 BC. AR didrachm (25mm. 8.92 gm). NGC MS 4/5 - 4/5. Ca. 540-515 BC. Wild parsley (selinon) leaf / Incuse square composed of twelve alternating raised and sunken triangles. HGC 2, 1211. Medium cabinet toning with radiating rainbow hues throughout. Situated on a vast plateau in southwestern Sicily, Selinus was founded in the late seventh century BC by Dorian colonists from Megara in mainland Greece. Named after a river god, Selinus was one of the earliest Sicilian cities to embrace the invention of coinage. Its first coins, struck on the Corinthian standard in circa 540 BC, bore a selinon (celery) leaf as a canting pun on the city name.

HID09801242017

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