Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich

Auction 124  –  23 June 2021

Numismatica Ars Classica Zurich, Auction 124

A Collection of Greek Coins of a Man in Love with Art, Part III

We, 23.06.2021, from 3:00 PM CEST
The auction is closed.

Description

Leontini.   Tetradrachm of the Demareteion type circa 470, AR 17.16 g. Slow quadriga driven r. by charioteer holding kentron and reins; above Nike flying l. to crown him. In exergue, lion springing r. Rev. LEONTI – NO – N retrograde Laureate head of Apollo r.; hair plaited behind the neck. Around, three laurel leaves; below neck truncation, lion springing r. Rizzo pl. XXII, 15 (these dies). Boehringer, Leontinoi, 28 (these dies). SNG Lloyd 1045 (these dies). Gillet 439 (these dies). SNG ANS 218 (this reverse die). Jenkins 233 (these dies). Gulbenkian 210 (these dies). Dewing 622 (these dies).
Very rare and in exceptional condition for this difficult and fascinating issue. Of superb
style and with a magnificent old cabinet tone, almost invisible traces of
overstriking on reverse, otherwise about extremely fine

Ex Hess/Leu 36, 1968, 67 and Morton and Eden 51, 2011, Exceptional ancient Greek coins, 35 sales.
Like Katane, Leontinoi was also a colony established by Sicilian Naxos in the late eighth century BC. The city has the dubious reputation of being the first of Sicily in which the government was taken over by a tyrant. In c. 608 BC, the oligarchic constitution of Leontinoi was overthrown by a certain Panaitios who subsequently ruled as the city’s strong man. His success as tyrant inspired other like-minded individuals in Sicily to establish tyrannies in their own cities—a fashion in Sicilian Greek politics that did not die out until the third century BC. Unfortunately for Leontinoi, however, while it may have been the first city of Greek Sicily with its own tyrant, it turned out not to be the strongest. In c. 496/5 BC, Leontinoi was conquered by Hippokrates, the tyrant of Gela and by 476 BC the city found itself under the domination of Hieron I of Syracuse. In this year the Syracusan tyrant forcibly expelled the populations of Katane and Naxos and resettled them at Leontinoi. The Leontines hosted their dispossessed fellow Chalkidian Greeks until the death of Hieron I in 467 BC, when they were able to return to their original homes and Leontinoi again became an autonomous city free from Syracusan control. This outstanding tetradrachm of Leontinoi was struck during the period of Hieron’s domination of the city, probably in connection with the expenses related to hosting the Katanaians and Naxians or to the tyrant’s foundation of the city of Aitna using their territory. As might be expected in this period, the beautifully executed and preserved types reflect the strong influence of the contemporary coinage of Syracuse. The slow quadriga obverse is drawn directly from Syracusan tetradrachms struck under Hieron I while the head of Apollo on the reverse takes many of its cues from that of Arethusa on the Syracusan issues. In the same way that the head of Arethusa is regularly encircled by four dolphins, here the head of Apollo is encircled by three laurel leaves and a lion. The lion (leon in Greek), which also occurs on the obverse, was the punning badge of the city.

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Price realized 55'000 CHF
Starting price 28'000 CHF
Estimate 35'000 CHF
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