Catana
Tetradrachm signed by Kra....circa 450-445, AR 17.26 g. Charioteer driving slow quadriga r., holding kentron and reins. On the chariot, the signature KPA. Rev. KATANAION Laureate head of Apollo r. Riccio pl. X, 9 (these dies). SNG Lockett 728 (this reverse die). AMB 327 (this coin). Very rare and in unusually fine condition for this very difficult issue. Lovely iridescent tone, the obverse from a worn die, otherwise good very fine / about extremely fine Ex NAC 13, 1998, formerly exhibited at the Antikenmuseum Basel, 327. From the Athos and Dina Moretti collection. As a backdoor attempt to defeat Sparta in the ongoing Peloponnesian War, in 414-413 BC, the Athenians undertook a great naval campaign to capture Syracuse and take control of the vast agricultural wealth of Sicily. The campaign ended in disaster for the Athenians, who lost their fleet, money and supplies, and had their men enslaved by the victorious Syracusans. The large quantities of silver that came to Syracuse and from plunder and the sale of slaves resulted in an explosion of silver coin production and ushered in a period of numismatic art, the likes of which had not been seen previously. Taking great pride in their work, the engravers responsible habitually signed the dies they created for use at Syracuse and at other cities. Despite the fact that Catana had made the terrible mistake of serving as a base for the Athenian Expedition, it too was swept up in the immediate Sicilian postwar prosperity and the new flowering of art. This tetradrachm of Catana is signed by Euainetos, an artist who also worked on dies for Syracuse and is most famous for his later Syracusan decadrachm dies. The present tetradrachm reflects the strong typological influence that Syracuse exerted over much of Sicily (even those under Punic control) in the late fifth and fourth centuries BC. The fast quadriga of the obverse is taken directly from the coins of Syracuse and is very similar to the racing chariot depicted on Euainetos’ decadrachm die. However, the panoply of armor that appears in the exergue of the Syracusan decadrachm obverse is here replaced by a crab. Here also, Nike not only carries a wreath to crown the charioteer, but also a plaque bearing the name of the engraver. The head of Apollo is beautifully executed and reflects the height of classical art attained by Sicilian engravers in the period of the signing artists. Alas, shortly after this coin was produced, Dionysius I of Syracuse avenged the wrongs of the Athenian Expedition by capturing Catana, plundering the city, enslaving its inhabitants and repopulating it with Campanian mercenaries. It is possible that the present coin was struck as part of financial preparations for the conflict with Syracuse that the Catanians knew would come.