Hey guys, I was reading the Wikipedia page about Ancient Greek coinage and it says: “The large silver decadrachm (10-drachm) coin from Syracuse is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever.” Funnily enough HA has one of these exact coins coming up for auction in October. Based on previous auctions it looks like these sell for between $50,000 and $100,000 each. So what do you think? Is this really the most beautiful coin minted in Ancient times or ever?
No, but "finest" to me references the care and skill of manufacture, regardless of the subject. Don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful coin, and to make a monster that big at that point in time is REMARKABLE. Most beautiful...eh Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. To be honest we should have at least three "most beautiful", ancient, medieval and modern. JMHO
The decadrachm is a beautiful coin. The example in the OP is probably the worst example, that I've ever seen, in my opinion, because of the flan shape, etc. However, I imagine, that someone will pay a lot of money, for it. I've always liked the Gobrecht dollar. However, there are many beautiful coins. I just happened to think of the Gobrecht dollar. Like @Kentucky said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, at least to a certain extent, in my opinion. Here are a couple of Gobrecht dollars, which I don't own. I have zero Gobrecht dollars, at the moment. I don't know, who owns these Gobrecht dollars. Maybe someone on CoinTalk. If so, then please let me know, so that I can give you credit.
its a nice coin but most beautiful not in my eyes , and opinions will vary greatly on which coin is the most beautiful.
I had the facing head of Arethusa tetradrachms by Kimon as my favourite coin of all time - e.g. this one, which sold for 2.737 million CHF in 2014: Not even slabbed https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/silver-tetradrachm-of-sicily-sets-record-price.html For decadrachms, I prefer the Euainetos version, as in the slabbed one above, to the Kimon version. My view on my favourite coin changed in 2015 when I went to Sicily to see where the coins came from and in the rather great Paolo Orsi Archaeologicsl Museum in Syracuse there's a wonderful coin collection. If I recall correctly, there were 29 decadrachms in one case alone. Of course they also had a Kimon tetradrachm, probably not as nice as the record-breaking one above, but still lovely. However, there was a really stunning tetradrachm of Katane by Herakleidas with the facing head of Apollo which really stood out. There are a few varieties of these and to be honest I haven't found any online that look as nice. I have no photo' of the one in the museum as they didn't allow photography and I observed the rules - if I go back, I'll definitely take a photo'. This one sold by CNG is nice, but not as striking as I remember the other one: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=371282 Anyway, that's my favourite, but I'll have to make a lot of money and wait a long time to find the right one When the Irish Free State coinage was being designed in the 1920s, the head of the committee charged with designing the coins, the poet W.B. Yeats said: “As the most famous and beautiful coins are the coins of the Greek Colonies, especially of those in Sicily, we decided to send photographs of some of these, and one coin of Carthage, to our selected artists, and to ask them, as far as possible, to take them as a model. But the Greek coins have two advantages that ours could not have, one side need not balance the other, and the other could be stamped in high relief, whereas ours must pitch and spin to please the gambler, and pack into rolls to please the banker.” http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/07/how-visit-to-sicily-inspired-yeats-in.html ATB, Aidan.
After reading the thread title, but before I clicked on it, I had the same coin in mind! I do think it is the most beautiful coin, but in a better state than the one you have pictured. Its breathtaking. (Not mine, lol)
That one from Heritage is not a particularly nice example. This one is from the Boston MFA: Is this the most beautiful ancient coin? Obviously opinions will differ and there is no right answer. But I would say it is a contender.
Yeah I agree with you both. The HA example isn’t a great one due to the weird flan shape. I just used that example because it’s the only one I see coming up for sale anytime soon. I’m guessing when they have such a huge flan to work on it allowed them to do their best work. 43 grams of silver is just massive when you realize an American Silver Eagle is only 31.1 grams and is a giant coin on its own.
Una and the Lion Like the many versions of the Syrakusa 10 drachma, City View Thalers are easy to find in a range of evermore beautiful. It just depends.Without an objective standard, we all just stating opinions. I believe that objective standards exist, we just do not identify them or adhere to them.
I just realized that is a signed one. Apparently those signed ones fetch a premium on the market over the unsigned ones.
...Um, from a recovering Philosophy major (undergrad only), once you set up a contrast between "finest" and "most beautiful," you're already Waaaay deep in the semantic swamp. To @Kentucky 's point, beauty is (sorry for this --well, except, not enough not to say it anyway) irreducibly subjective. (Thank you, even in the immediate context of feminine beauty; Yep, from male perspectives.) And to @Kentucky's and @Gam3rBlake's ensuing ones, where "fine" is concerned, you really need to preemptively define what the (expletive of choice) you're talking about. That at least has the potential to admit of further, factual explication, even in quantifiable terms. But only once you've defined the initial one. ...Wiki is good for a Lot, starting, in a best case, with references that you could cite with a straight face, in anything resembling an academic context. Except, nuance? Not so much.
One of my all time favorites among ancients is this specific die pairing on this Siculo-Punic tetradrachm (not my coin ofc ). (Photo credit NAC) Obv. Female head l. (Tanit ?), wearing a necklace and a Phrygian tiara encircled with a band decorated with palmettes. Rev. Lion advancing l., head facing; behind, palm tree with cluster of dates. In exergue, ‘ s'mmhnt’ (people of the Camp) in Punic characters.
