Ancient Sicily on a Shoestring - Himera

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by zumbly, Dec 7, 2014.

  1. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    There have been quite a number of posts recently showcasing budget grade coins, but I think it bears repeating that this hobby can really be enjoyed with very little money. This rough little 5th century BC bronze from Himera arrived last week and cost me all of $6 shipped.

    It's in no danger of ending up in a high-end auction catalog anytime soon, but I think it has a fairly good chance of outliving me by a millennia or two, and perhaps will even be appreciated by its next owner for being the interesting, ancient relic that it is.

    Himera400.jpg
    SICILY, Himera
    AE Tetras
    2.4g, 16mm
    Circa 420 - 409 BC
    Calciati I p. 43, 32/1
    O: Pan as a youth, holding thyrsos over shoulder and blowing on a conch shell, seated on goat walking right; three pellets (mark of value) below.
    R: Nike flying left, holding aphlaston and hem of skirt.

    And since I didn't have to get the coin submitted for a best of type contest, I instead did abit of armchair travelling to ancient Himera and came up with a short summary :

    Himera was one of the earliest and most significant Greek settlements on the northern coast of Sicily. By virtue of its position, the city came to be strategically important at a time when tensions between the Greeks and the Carthaginians, who controlled areas of western Sicily, began to rise.

    sicily-small2.jpg

    In 480 BC, it was the site of the Battle of Himera, where Hamilcar Mago, King of Carthage, led a huge army of up to 300,000 soldiers against the combined forces of Gelon, Tyrant of Syracuse, and Theron, Tyrant of Akragas. According to Herodotus, the Battle of Himera was fought on the same day as the Battle of Salamis, where Xerxes of Persia, who was allied with the Carthaginians, engaged the armies of the Greek city-states. Even as that battle was a disaster for the Persians, the Battle of Himera on Sicily ended with the crushing defeat of the Carthaginians. Of Hamilcar, it is said that he was either killed in battle, or that he hurled himself into a huge sacrificial fire when the defeat of his army became apparent.

    This coin dates to the period following the Battle of Himera, when the city flourished even as disputes between the various Sicilian tyrants and despots continued. This prosperity, however, was not to last. In 409 BC, Hamilcar Mago's grandson, Hannibal Mago (not to be confused with the later and more famous Hannibal Barca), sailed to Sicily with a large invading army. He had been charged by the Carthaginian senate to attack and sack the city of Selinos on behalf of the city of Segesta. But Hannibal did not stop after he had completed that task... he marched on towards Himera with the intention of avenging his grandfather's defeat and death 70 years earlier. With a relieving fleet from Syracuse misdirected by rumours spread by Hannibal, and the Himerans had little chance of holding out on their own against the Carthaginians and the city's defenses were soon overwhelmed. On the site of his grandfather's defeat, Hannibal is said to have sacrificed 3000 Greek prisoners. He then had Himera so completely destroyed that it was never rebuilt again.

    Post 'em if you've got em! :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 7, 2014
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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    I have none. Interesting history even if the coin is not BoT. I'd welcome it into the fold.
     
  4. TIF

    TIF Always learning.

    Himera has a variety of very interesting coins. Few of them exist in great condition though. While I've come close to bidding on a few tetradrachms, at the moment this litra is my only Himeran and it was from a mixed lot (one of the few coins specified in the seller's description).

    [​IMG]

    SICILY, Himera
    430-420 BCE

    AR litra, 11 x 12 mm, 0.68 gm
    Obv: bearded and helmeted head right
    Rev: Corinthian helmet right
    Ref: SNG Lloyd 1029
    from Ira & Larry Goldberg, Pre Long Beach Auction September 2013, part of a mixed lot.
    ex CNG Sale XXV, lot 71, 3/24/93
    ex CNA II, lot 31

    This coin is listed in Wildwinds.
     
  5. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    I remember you posting this little guy, but had forgotten it was from Himera. Nice to see it again!
     
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  6. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Hey Z-bro => congrats on a very cool coin from Himera (I thought for sure that I had an example with a rooster on it, but I must have been mistaken? ... perhaps I bid on it, but lost?)

    ... neat addition

    Oh, and great coin, TIF (very sweet)
     
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  7. jcm

    jcm Active Member

    Nice find! Love those old Sicilian bronzes!
     
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  8. John Anthony

    John Anthony Ultracrepidarian

    That's a nice coin, and thanks for the write-up. $6 shipped is what I call a numismatic snack. I've got a handful myself - who doesn't like snacks?
     
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  9. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Thanks! And now that you've realised you don't have one with a rooster on it, you need to go get one! :p
     
  10. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Now, this should be a formal numismatic phrase.
     
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  11. chrsmat71

    chrsmat71 I LIKE TURTLES!

    still pretty cool, i'd do that for 6 bucks no problem Z.

    i don't have any greek coins form sicily, my oldest is a byzantine minted in syracuse.
     
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  12. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    => exactly!!

    ... here is a link to a couple of awesome Rooster-examples (one is a Himera Rooster => watch AJ buy "both of 'em")

    https://cngcoins.com/Search.aspx?IS_ADVANCED=1&ITEM_IS_SOLD=1&ITEM_INVENTORY_NUMBER=&CONTAINER_NAME=&ITEM_LOT_NUMBER=&ITEM_DESC=SICILY, Himera rooster&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_1=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_3=1&SEARCH_IN_CONTAINER_TYPE_ID_2=1&VIEW_TYPE=0

    Hmmm? ... that must be a typo (estimate CHF3750 ... sold for CHF400)

    both of them are pretty cool, eh?
     
    Last edited: Dec 8, 2014
  13. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Ummm, speakin' of Roosters ...

    :woot:

    => I have a fairly cool Rooster-example, from Italy (I wonder where it lands on your cool map?)


    Italy Campania Teanum Sidicinum Æ20
    Date: 265-240 BC
    Diameter: 20.5 mm
    Weight: 7.05 grams
    Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena left
    Reverse: TIANO, Rooster standing right, star behind

    Campania Teanum Sidicinum.jpg
     
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  14. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    TEANUM SIDICINUM (Teano) Italy

    Teano.jpg

    ... I answered my own question (it's not very close to Himera) ...

    Sorry, Z-Bro ... I seem to have derailed your thread (my bad)
     
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  15. zumbly

    zumbly Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana

    Nice rooster! And continuing to speak of roosters, I'm waiting on one myself, but from Dardanos. I'm going to get a kick out of that coin because it's got a rooster, was struck in a city built on a mountain now known as Goose Mountain in modern day Turkey. You could say it's a triple-feathered threat :D.
     
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  16. stevex6

    stevex6 Random Mayhem

    Wow, a triple-feathered threat!! (man, that's right up there with double-dog-dare!!)

    => I wanna see it!!


    :chicken::chicken::chicken:
     
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