SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysius I (405-370 BC). AR decadrachm (36mm, 42.32 gm, 5h). NGC AU 4/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, scuffs. Unsigned dies by the "shell engraver" in the style of Euainetos, ca. 400 BC. Racing quadriga driven left by charioteer, reins in left hand, kentron in right; Nike flying right in field above to crown him, military arms, including aspis (shield), greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all joined by horizontal spear, ΑΘΛΑ ("prizes") below all in exergue, dotted border / ΣΥ-Ρ-Α-Κ-ΟΣΙΩΝ, head of Arethusa left, hair wreathed with barley ears, wearing triple pendant earring and beaded necklace; pellet and scallop shell flanking neck, four dolphins swimming around, dotted border. Gallatin (FIXa/RXXIII). Graceful and Fine Style dies blanketed in a lovely, deep patina. Full reverse legends visible with subtle amber luster when rotated in hand. Widely considered to be the most beautiful coins ever struck, the immense silver decadrachms of Syracuse from the later fifth century BC represent the full flowering of classical Greek sculptural art. Syracuse, the foremost Greek city in Sicily, had produced coins of exceptional beauty for nearly a century when, ca. 415 BC, engravers began signing their coin dies. Chief among these were the master engravers Kimon and Euainetos, whose large silver decadrachms seemed to capture the spirit of the artistic and intellectual revolution then sweeping the Greek world. The obverse of these pieces depicts a four-horse racing chariot, or quadriga, in full career to left while Nike, goddess of Victory, flies above to crown the driver with a laurel wreath. Below this scene is a set of Greek armor offered as a prize to the victorious charioteer. The reverse depicts a beautiful head of Arethusa, nymph of a sacred spring, with dolphins frolicking around her. The decadrachm of Euainetos became a widely-copied archetype for Greek coinage, and the master engraver's head of Arethusa remains a paradigm of cool, classical beauty today. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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