SICILY, Katane. c. 405-403/2 BC

SICILY, Katane. c. 405-403/2 BC

$49,500.00

AR Didrachm, 4.20g (19mm, 9h).

Dies in the style of engraver Prokles. Charioteer holding kentron and reins, driving quadriga r.; above, Nike flying, crowning charioteer with wreath / Head of river-god Amenanos l.,; crayfish and two dolphins around, AMENANOΣ.

Pedigree: This coin published in O.D. Hoover, The Handbook of Greek Coins, Vol. 2 - Coins of Sicily. Ex NAC 116, 1 October 2019, lot 44 (A highly important collection of Greek coins of a man in love with art). Ex CNG, Triton XIV, 4 January 2011, lot 23.

References: SNG Man. 384 (same dies); SNG ANS - cf. 1263 for drachm by different engraver; HGC 2, 582 (this coin) corr. (incorrectly copied from 581). 

Grade: Fine style with a full strike on both faces. An nice example of the type. Very little wear on either face. EF+ / EF+. (gk1779)

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Please note that the coin write-up is taken from the NAC 2019 sale of this coin:

The obverse of the present drachm of Catana reflects the typological influence of Syracuse in its use of a racing quadriga. However it is unusual in that the expected male charioteer has been replaced by a female figure, perhaps representing the eponymous nymph of the city. The reverse depicts the head of Amenanos, the god of the nearby river. While Sicilian river-gods were often depicted as bearded man-faced bulls in emulation of their father Acheloos, Amenanos appears in fully realized and youthful human form. The only obvious indicator that he is a river-god comes from the petite bull's horn that emerges from his hair and the fact that his head is surrounded by such riverine creatures as fish and crayfish. This coin is remarkable and highly desirable not only for its high artistry but for the fact that its style (e.g. double exergue lines, positioning of the horses' legs, posture of the charioteer, and treatment of Amenanos' hair) identifies it as a rare unsigned issue of Prokles, an engraver who signed tetradrachms of Catana. His unsigned drachms are a rarity in the drachm series of Catana. The issues signed by Euainetos, Herakleidas and Choirion are more common. The present drachm was struck at the high point of the engraver's art at Catana, which also fell at the cusp of the city's fortunes. As a Chalkidian Greek city, Catana was frequently in conflict with Dorian Syracuse and in 427 BC joined neighboring Leontinoi in seeking Athenian aid against their shared enemy. When the Athenians arrived in force in 415 BC, Catana became an important staging area for the war against Syracuse. Unfortunately for Catana, the Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC) ended in complete disaster for the Athenians and the Syracusans never forgot. In the year that the coin was struck, Dionysios I became tyrant of Syracuse. Two years later, in 403 BC, Catana was betrayed into the hands of the tyrant. He plundered the city, enslaved the inhabitants, and repopulated Catana with Campanian mercenaries.