Sicily, Messana (as Zankle) AR Drachm. Circa 500-493 BC. Dolphin swimming to left within crescent harbour, DANKL[E] below / Nine-part incuse square with cockle shell at centre. Gielow Group 4, 33 (same dies); DuChastel Coll. 39 (same dies); HGC 2, 766; SNG ANS 302; SNG Lloyd 1076; Basel 359; Boston MFA 285; Kraay & Hirmer 49; Rizzo pl. XXV, 4–5; HGC 2, 766. 5.72g, 25mm.

Near Extremely Fine; area of flat strike, minor hairlines to rev., lightly toned and lustrous.

Ex Jonathan P. Rosen Collection;
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 64, 17 May 2012, lot 693 (hammer CHF 6,500);
Ex Gemini LLC, Auction VI, 10 January 2010, lot 28.

The circumstances and time of the foundation of Zankle are uncertain, due to conflicting accounts from the historical sources. According to Thucydides, the place was originally settled by the Chalkidian colony of Kyme (Cumae), first as a trading outpost, then as a polis in its own right at a later date, when greater numbers of Chalkidian and other Euboian settlers arrived. According to Ps.-Skymnos 283-86 (possibly drawing on Ephor fr. 137A; cf. Strabo 6.2.2-3) however, Zankle was founded by Naxos as a sub-colony at around the same time as Katane and Leontinoi, i.e. circa 735-730 BC. This date seems to be supported by archaeological evidence, and by the Zanklaian participation in the foundation of Rhegion.

Situated near the narrowest point of the straits south of Cape Pelorus on a low coastal plateau facing a natural, sickle-shaped harbour from which the city took its name (ζάγκλον – scythe), the settlement of Zankle lay along the inner harbour and upon the sickle-shaped peninsula that enclosed the harbour. The city appears to have been prosperous until around 488/7 BC, when the Zanklaian forces were laying siege to a native Sikel town, and their undefended city was captured by Samian exiles.