SICILY. Selinus. Ca. 540-480 BC. AR didrachm (22mm, 7.15 gm). NGC MS 5/5 - 5/5. Ca. 540-515 BC. Wild parsley (selinon) leaf / Incuse square composed of ten triangles, with four sections partially filled. HGC 2, 1209. Medium cabinet toning and subdued luster. 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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