‡ Sicily, Messana, tetradrachm, c. 420-413 BC, ΜΕΣΣΑΝ, nymph Messana in long chiton driving mule biga walking left; in ex., two dolphins nose-to-nose, rev., ΜΕΣ-Σ-ΑΝ-ΙΟ-Ν, hare springing right; below, dolphin right, 17.23g, die axis 8.00 (Caltabiano 514; SNG ANS 366, same dies; SNG Fitzwilliam 1076, same dies), a few marks in the fields, toned, about extremely fine Provenance: European Connoisseur collection (formed before 2002).Note: The designs on this coin go back to the period when Anaxilas of Rhegion took control of Messana in 480 BC when both cities adopted the same general types of a mule-biga and a springing hare. The obverse commemorated Anaxilas’s victory in the mule-biga event at the Olympic Games in that year. The same general types continued to the utilised with variations throughout the 5th century with the crouching figure of Anaxilas himself on the earlier issues replaced, as here, with the more elegant and upright figure of the nymph Messana.

Estimate: GBP 4000-5000