Greek Coins
Syracuse
Tetradrachm circa 420-415, AR 17.27 g. Slow quadriga driven r. by charioteer, holding reins and kentron ; in exergue, grasshopper. Rev. ΣΥ – [ΡΑ – Κ ΟΣΙΟΝ] Head of Arethusa l., wearing hook-earring and necklace; hair bound with cord and wound five times around the head; on either side, two dolphins snout to snout. Rizzo pl. XL, 18 (these dies) and reverse enlarged on pl. XLI, 8. Boston 349 (these dies). Hertzfelder, ”Sicilie Grecque”, p. 329 (this coin). Schefold, ”Meisterwerke Griechische Kunst”, Basel 1960, 467 (this coin). Kraay-Hirmer pl. 31, 96 (this reverse die). AMB 453 (these dies). Jameson 787 (these dies). Kunstfreund 113 (these dies). Tudeer p. 99, 1 (these dies). Boehringer 728.
Very rare and among the finest specimens known. The finest representation of
Arethusa of this period and a superb example of early Classical style.
Old cabinet tone and about extremely fine / extremely fine Ex M&M 77, 1992, 30 and New York sale XXX, 2013, 46 sales.

Struck from the final pair of tetradrachm dies that Erich Boehringer included in his landmark study Die Münzen von Syrakus, this extraordinary piece exemplifies the fresh artistic approach enjoyed at Syracuse once the Archaic style of coinage was abandoned following the ‘Demareteion’ issues of the mid-460s. Indeed, this coin was struck in the midst of that period of great experimentation from about 460 to 390 B.C., during which some of the most impressive of all Sicilian coins were created.

The Archaic vigour that had defined Syracusan coinage prior to the 460s is here supplanted by soft contours and naturalistic, balanced features. Of no lesser interest was the apparent fixation at Syracuse with Arethusa’s coiffure. An impressive range of hair styles are showcased on the Syracusan tetradrachms of the post-Demareteion era, most of them being elaborate and structurally intriguing. These impressive hair styles were achieved with the aid of accoutrements, including a saccus, a diadem, broad ribbons, bands and cords. This alone was a noteworthy departure from the previous era in which the hair of Arethusa was rendered in a simple, consistent style and was adorned with just a beaded diadem.