Syracuse Bronze

This is one of my earliest purchases and one of my favorite coins. Poseidon looks very god-like and the trident is cool. So post your coins of Syracuse or anything with Poseidon or tridents.

And here is some interesting reading about the tyrant Hieron II (wiki) especially the bit where Archimedes works out his calculations for density. Cool story, probably apocryphal.

Hiero II(Greek:Ἱέρων Β΄; c. 308 BC – 215 BC) was theGreekSicilian king ofSyracusefrom 270 to 215 BC, and the illegitimate son of a Syracusan noble,Hierocles, who claimed descent fromGelon. He was a former general ofPyrrhus of Epirusand an important figure of theFirst Punic War.[1]

On the departure of Pyrrhus fromSicily(275 BC) the Syracusan army and citizens appointed him commander of the troops. He strengthened his position by marrying the daughter of Leptines, the leading citizen. In the meantime, theMamertines, a body ofCampanianmercenaries who had been employed byAgathocles, had seized the stronghold ofMessana, and proceeded in harassing the Syracusans. They were finally defeated in a pitched battle nearMylaeby Hiero, who was only prevented from capturing Messana byCarthaginian interference. His grateful countrymen then made himking(270).

In 264 BC he again returned to the attack, and the Mamertines called in the aid ofRome.[2]Hiero at once joined the Punic leaderHanno, who had recently landed in Sicily; but fighting a battle to an inconclusive outcome with the Romans led by theconsul Appius Claudius Caudex, he withdrew to Syracuse.[3]

Pressed by the Roman forces, in 263 he concluded a treaty with Rome, by which he was to rule over the south-east of Sicily and the eastern coast as far asTauromenium.[3]

From this time until his death in 215 BC he remained loyal to the Romans, and frequently assisted them with men and provisions during the Punic war.[4]He kept up a powerful fleet for defensive purposes, and employed his famous kinsmanArchimedesin the construction of those engines that, at a later date, played so important a part during the siege of Syracuse by the Romans.

According to a story told byVitruvius,[5]Hiero suspected he was being cheated by the goldsmith to whom he had supplied the gold to make avotive crown for a temple. He asked Archimedes to find out if all the gold had been used, as had been agreed. Archimedes, on discovering the principle ofdisplacementneeded to measure the density of the crown is said to have shouted "eureka, eureka!"while running naked through Syracuse. Vitruvius concludes this story by stating that Archimedes' method successfully detected the goldsmith's fraud; he had taken some of the gold and substituted silver instead.



Sicily, Syracuse, Hieron II
Æ19 6.9 grams
275-215 BC
Head of Poseidon left
Ornamented trident head flanked by two dolphins
Cf. SNG ANS 964 ff.
19 mm 7 grams

 

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Great score, JBG ... that baby has great eye-appeal (love the colours)

=> I have a similar type (hopefully you wanna see it)

 

Hiero II, 270-215 BC
Æ27, 18.4g, 6h; Sicily, Syracuse, circa 230-218/5 BC.
Obv.: Diademed head of Hiero left, beardless.
Rev.: Horseman prancing right, holding couched spear, Σ // ΙΕΡΩΝΟΣ

 

Wonderful pick-up @JBGood !!!

I have two to offer----A Hieron type, (Trident upside down LOL) and this Silver Tet from Byzantion, Thrace:

 

the reverse is very cool!

 

I like these and yours is better than mine by a long shot.


I also have these two
SICILY, SYRACUSE, HIERON II
AE19
OBVERSE: Head of Persephone left, wreathed with corn, wearing earring and necklace
REVERSE: Bull butting left
Struck at Syracuse, Sicily 275-265 BC
4.3g; 17mm
BMC. Sicily, p 219, 624


SICILY, SYRACUSE, HIERON II
AE19
OBVERSE: Head of Persephone left, wreathed with corn, wearing earring and necklace, poppy head behind head
REVERSE: Bull butting left; above, club above IA; IE in exergue
Struck at Syracuse, Sicily 275-265 BC
5.71g; 19mm
BMC. Sicily, p 219, 624
SICILY, SYRACUSE, HIERON II
AE19
OBVERSE: Head of Persephone left, wreathed with corn, wearing earring and necklace
REVERSE: Bull butting left
Struck at Syracuse, Sicily 275-265 BC
4.3g; 17mm
BMC. Sicily, p 219, 624

 

Poseidonia, the city of Poseidon, in Lucania. Poseidon nude, brandishing his trident:

 

Very nice Anut. That bull is awesome.

 

WOW!! @ancientcoinguru, That's a stunningly beautiful coin!!!

I guess I'll post my Agrippa and Neptune As:

 

Mmmm, Syracuse. Such a wonderful array of choices!

The Hieron II Poseidon/trident bronze is a must-have for lovers of Syracuse coins . Here's mine.


Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II
275-216 BCE
Æ 23, 7.4 gm
Obv: diademed head of Poseidon left
Rev: IEP-ΩNOΣ Trident upright; on either side, dolphin
Ref: Calciati 194

One of my favorites, a sweet little nymph and octopus:


Sicily, Syracuse. Dionysos I
390 BCE
Æ tetras, 14 mm, 1.8 gm
Obv: head of nymph facing slightly left, wearing necklace
Rev: octopus
Ref: CNS 29; SNG ANS 385

The next one doesn't look like much but it is actually pretty nice "for the type":


Sicily, Syracuse. Second Democracy
c. 425 BCE
Æ tetras, 13 mm, 1.9 gm
Obv: Female head right; XXX before
Rev: Hippocamp right, octopus below
Ref: CNS 30; SNG ANS 1382

And my favorite, likely to remain so for my whole life, unless I come into a bunch of money and AncientJoe loses his mind and sells me his stunning Agathokles tetradrachm with Kore/Nike erecting trophy,


SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289 BCE)
310-305 BCE
AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram
Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637

The story of its acquisition is here.

Non-Syracusian coins with Poseidon and/or tridents:


KINGS of MACEDON. Antigonos III Doson
struck 227-225 BCE, Amphipolis mint?
AR tetradrachm, 32 mm, 17.1 gm
Obv: wreathed head of Poseidon right
Rev: Apollo seated left on prow left, holding bow; monogram below.
Ref: Panagopoulou 50–3 var. (unlisted dies); EHC 436; Touratsoglou 52–3; SNG Saroglos 933; SNG Alpha Bank 1046; SNG Ashmolean 3266


PHOENICIA, Berytos
1st century BCE
Æ19.5, 5.9 gm
Obv: Turreted head of Tyche right
Rev: Poseidon standing left in quadriga drawn by four hippocamps, holding trident and patera, small male figure guiding the quadriga
Ref: SNG Copenhagen 83


EGYPT, Alexandria. Lucius Verus
year 4, CE 163/4
billion tetradrachm, 24 mm, 13.51 gm
Obv: ΛAVPHΛI OVHPOCCEB; bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust left
Rev: Radiate and draped bust of Serapis-Pantheos right, wearing calathus and horn of Ammon; trident behind shoulder; ∆/L in right field
Ref: Emmett 2360 (4), R1; Köln 2148; Dattari (Savio) 9420; K&G 39.77


AKARNANIA, Federal Coinage (Akarnanian Confederacy)
3rd century BCE
Æ (20mm, 6.38 g, 10h)
Obv: laureate head of Zeus right; API below
Rev: head of river-god Achelӧos left; trident head above, monogram to left. Ref: BCD Akarnania 32; HGC 4, 736
ex Alexandre Carathéodory Pasha (1833-1906)

 

I always LOVE to see those coins @TIF ....So many gorgeous examples I'd Love to own! And that Agathokles.......WOW!!!

 

Great coin. I almost got one similar to yours but waited too long and it sold

 

Beautiful coins all!! TIF kills it!

 

Here are a couple of mine:


LUCANIA, Poseidonia
Silver Nomos (20mm, 7.15 gm.). c. 445-420 BC.
Obv: Poseidon standing right, preparing to cast trident.
Rev: Bull standing left.
Ref: HN Italy 1116; SNG ANS 655.


Syracuse Poseidon c. 270-215 B.C.Greek city of Syracuse in Sicily
Bronze 18mm (5.16 grams) under King Hieron II, 270-215 B.C.
Obv: Head of Poseidon left, wearing tainia.
Rev: Ornamented trident-head, between two dolphins, dividing IEPΩ - NOΣ.
Ref: Sear 1223; B.M.C. 2. 603.

 

good write up and a cool new coin JBG, it took me almost two years to get one of these....



welcome aboard mike!

 

Yes-- welcome, @MikeCollectsCoins!

 

Nice coins folks !

I second that !

Syracuse is another soft spot for mine (yes I know, I have too many soft spots, but what the heck, it's more than likely we live just once...). First my specimen of the OP coin, then a selection of others I have (almost all of them actually )
Pardon the poor pictures, they're old ones and I'm lazy...



Syracuse Hieron II 275-216 BC
Head of Poseidon left
IEPWN Trident between two dolphins
9.07 gr, 22 mm
Ref : Sear #1223



Syracuse Agathokles 317-289 BC
SYPAKOSYWN. Head of Kore left
Bull butting left, two dolphins and linked VA in field
6.0 gr, 20 mm
Ref : Sear #1195 var



Syracuse Agathokles 317-289 BC
Bust of Artemis right. SOTEIPA in right field
AGATHOKLEOS BASILEOS, thunderbolt
8.43 gr, 22 mm
Ref : Sear #1200



Syracuse Hiketas 288-279 BC
Head of Zeus hellanios right
ΣΙΡΑΚ ΟΣΙΩΝ. Eagle left, wings open, star and A in field
8.95 gr, 23 mm
Ref : Sear # 1212



Syracuse Hieron II 275-216 BC
Anepigraph - Laureate head of Hieron left
Horseman prancing right with spear in hand. At exergue, IEPWN
18.23 gr, 27 mm
Ref : Sear # 1222

Q

 

Well, I may as well add a few more sweeties from Syracuse, eh?

 

Some really lovely stuff in this thread. I think I need more Syracusan coins. I also just noticed that mine all show some variation of horse...

SICILY, Syracuse
Agathokles, 317-289 BC
AR Stater


SICILY, Syracuse
Timoleon & the Third Democracy, 336-317 BC
AE Dilitron


SICILY, Syracuse
Dionysios I, 406-367 BC
AE Litra

 

A year ago I 'upgraded' my example of the OP Hieron but when I got out the one I have had for 30 years I decided that I likes some things about it better than the new one. That means I had to keep both. Recent experiences suggests no one is anxious to pay for low grade coins on resale so keeping the ones that have anything going for them seems like the thing to do. This is a very common coin with many styles and varying quality workmanship. I suppose I will have to buy another if I find one with the style and surfaces of my first and the details of my more recent one.