LUCANIA. Herakleia. Circa 350-340 BC. Nomos or Didrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 7.88 g, 1 h), "signed" with the initial Α on the obverse and reverse. Head of Athena to left, wearing Attic helmet adorned with a figure of Skylla raising her right hand in the gesture of aposkopein on the bowl and an owl standing right on the neck guard; below neck, Α. Rev. ͰΗΡΑΚΛΗΙΩΝ Herakles, nude, standing right and strangling the struggling Nemean lion with both hands; to left, club and bow; above left, Α. AMB 108 = Kraay-Hirmer 256 ( same dies ). Gillet Plates 121 ( this coin ). HN III 1376. SNG Spencer Churchill 13 ( this coin ). Van Keuren 42. Work 24a ( this coin ) . A beautifully toned coin of the finest Classical style, very well-struck and well-centered. Nearly extremely fine.

Ex Peus 366, 29 October 2000, 12, Leu Numismatics 77, 11 May 2000, 43 and Numismatics Fine Arts V, 23 February 1978, from the collections of C. Gillet, E. G. Spencer Churchill, Ars Classica XVI, 3 July 1933, 128, S. Pozzi, Naville I, 4 April 1921, 127, H. C. Hoskier, Hirsch XX, 13 November 1907, 46 ( bought for Pozzi by Rollin & Feuardent for RM 735 ), E. P. Warren, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge 2 May 1905 ("Well-Known Collector"), 47 and H. Hoffmann, Rollin & Feuardent 17 May 1900, 98.

Aside from its present owner, this coin has been owned by several of the greatest connoisseur-collectors of the Twentieth Century! We can trace it back to 1897 to the private collection of the French dealer Henri Hoffmann, which means that it must have been in a collection no later than the last quarter of the 19th century. The letter Α which appears on the obverse, under the neck truncation, and the reverse, behind Herakles's head, has been taken by many to be the signature of the engraver Aristoxenos who primarily worked at Metapontum. Given the quality of the dies that struck this coin, this possibility seems quite reasonable.