SICILY. Morgantina. Circa 339/8-317 BC. 1 1/4 Litra (Silver, 13 mm, 0.80 g, 6 h). ΜΟΡΓΑ − Ν − ΤΙ − ΝΩ − Ν Head of Athena facing three-quarters right, wearing triple crested helmet. Rev. Nike, her wings spread, seated left on a boulder, holding a wreath in her right hand and resting her left on the rock. Bérend, Réflexions, pl. 2, 36. Buceti 3a. Erim & Jaunzems p. 9, 3, 1 = pl. 1, 11 (O1/R1). Rizzo pl. LX, 2a. SNG ANS 464. SNG Lockett 835. Of remarkably fine style and with an elaborate design. Dark patina as found. Minor marks and traces of corrosion, otherwise, about extremely fine.

From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Monnaies et Médailles 61, 7 October 1982, 48.

Morgantina was founded by an Italic people known as the Morgetes, who Dionysios of Hallikarnasos tells us were led by a king Morges (curiously enough there is a town named Morges that dates back to the late Bronze Age on Lake Geneva, but it is not believed to be associated with king Morges). The Sicels took the Sicilian town in 459; it passed to Syracuse in 449 and thence to Kamarina in 424; independent in 405, it was retaken by Syracuse in 396 and remained under Syracusan influence/control until it fell to the Romans in 211. By the 1st century CE the city had disappeared.