Messana Tetradrachm with bounding Hare, Rabbit, (or Jackalope) and an apene

SICILY, Messana
AR Tetradrachm
461 - 450 B.C.
17.31 gms, 26.5 mm
Obv: Biga of mules (an apene) driven right by charioteer. Nike above crowning mules, olive leaf below.
Rev: Hare bounding to right with crescent shape symbol below. MESSAN I ON around perimeter.
Grade: Overall a Fine coin. The hare reverse has claims to a higher grade than the biga obverse. Possibly struck by deteriorated dies.
Other: SNG.ANS.343. Similar to Sear #843. Depicted in 10-1-13 Spartan catalog. From Pegasi October 2013.

 

Log in or Sign up to hide this ad.

Wow dawg => super animal coin!! (I'm totally jealous!!)


=> man, I love the Sicily coins!! (awesome score)

 

Yep, now I’ve got a coin from the Ancient Greek State/City of Messana, Sicily. Of course, I’d prefer a higher grade coin but that could be really expensive. This coin is attractive to me & the price was right.

Messana is the city in Sicily located really close to ‘the toe’ of mainland Italy (just across the Straits of Messina). The city was originally called Zankle “Sickle”, which is the shape of its harbor. Perhaps this has something to do with the sickle shaped symbol below the hare on my coin?

Here’s some data gleaned from the Internet today:
Messana was originally colonized by settlers from Cumae and Euboea who named the city Zancle. It prospered for a couple centuries before it was captured by the tyrant Anaxilas in 490. Since Anaxilas was of Messenian descent, he changed the city’s name from Zancle to Messana, and populated it with new arrivals from Messenia and Samos. Amongst other things, the tyrant Anaxilas is credited with introducing the hare to Sicily.

The obverse depicts a charioteer driving a chariot drawn by two mules (an apene). Apene races were first held at the Olympic Games around 500 BC. The tyrant Anaxilas, apparently had an Olympic mule-team victory in 480 B.C. and he commemorated it with this coin type. The design is associated with Messana and it was kept after Anaxilas’ death in 476 BC. My coin is supposedly from 461 to 450 B.C which is 15-26 years after Anaxilas’ death (and right after his son’s death).

The reverse depicts a hare jumping with the inscription "MESSEN I ON" (of the Messenians). The hare on the reverse may symbolize the speed of Anaxilas’ chariot, or it may symbolize some association with fertility and abundance. The hare may also be on the coin simply because hare hunts were a favorite aristocratic pastime. [Hey, what do I know. I just bought the coin & started reading about it today].

I'm just happy to have the rabbit in my collection now.

The history of this Greek state/city in Sicily does not begin & end with my new fifth Century B.C. jackalope coin. A couple hundred years later, the Battle of Messana in 265-264 BC was the first military clash between the Roman Republic and Carthage. It marked the start of the First Punic War. In that period, Sicily became of increasing strategic importance to Rome.

 

Looks like a jack-0-lope to me. Nice pickup

 

Please post your rabbits.

 

I already labeled the flip "Jackalope"

BTW, anyone unfamiliar with the North American “Jackalope” should Google it. The fearsome creature was known by the ancients as "deerbunnies". Apparently it wasn't until the early 1960's that the modern "jackalope" name was adopted.
Please post em if you got em.

 

That's a fabulous coin!

 

ooooh, nice type!

 

Sicily, Messana AR Tetradrachm
(412–408 BC)
Obv.: Charioteer driving mule biga left, two dolphins nose to nose in exergue
Rev.: Hare leaping left over horizontal barley ear, dove flying left above, MESSANION in exergue.
Caltabiano 614 ; SNG ANS 378 ; SNG Copenhagen 404.

 

Awesome grilled cheese.

 

*sigh* .... I don't have any hare!!

 

Another way of keeping the cost down is to opt for a smaller coin. This is a 0.6g litra. Note it has considerable reticulation (crystallization) as is common on silver of this period. You can find the same coin from the city of the opposite shore but I do not have the hare version from Rhegion.

 

If you want to see a really nice rabbit coin check-out lot #42 in this auction:
http://www.pegasionline.com/catalog.asp?cat=556&curPage=3#null
The toning makes it really sweet.

Thanks for letting me share & thanks for all the coin complements.

 

The rabbit is nice but your Buddha coin was an antique when this was new.