That is without doubt my favourite fish to ever appear on any coin. Whatever it sells for, it's worth it.
Agreed! The die engraver was not only a master craftsman, but a talented artist and student of nature given his depictions of all four creatures!
That is one gorgeous coin, and if I had a few billion dollars to spare -- in real money, not in bitcoin or other crypto! -- I wouldn't hesitate to spend a quarter-million or more on it.
Pfhh, Akragas...Totally overrated! Centering issues, weak legends, uneven toning, no luster. And it's not even a deka. That all you've got? Also green with envy...
I do not have any coin from the mint of Akragas that is that special However I do have this one. Akragas Ar Tetradrachm 470-420 BC Obv Eagle standing left wings folded. Rv. Crab with human facial features on carapace within shallow incuse circle HGC 77 Westermark 349 O10/ R 39 17.02 grms 26 mm Photo by W. Hansen Compared to the depiction of the food chain in action that can be seen in the coin posted by @Roman Collector this one is rather tame. However I do like the humanoid face on the crab.
I've been outbid on the last few Akragas tetradrachms (I later learned it was to the same person... one of the new well-heeled buyers loves Akragas and is building a set of the major varieties). Therefore, I anticipate minimal hope on this coin. For the time being, I'm happy with my obol, which packs the same art in a very small canvas:
T.C. The facial apparition on your coin is amazing . I wonder if it represent a water deity of some king ....
Holy cockleshells batman!!! Meh, it'd be cooler if it had Skylla on it too. Seriously, that is the epitome of Sicilian ecstasy right there. Lemme defile this thread with some crud. This one set me back* almost .01% of the estimate for the coin in the OP. *Checks to see that the CHF is currently trading at exactly 1.00 to 1.00 to the USD atm. Sicily, Akragas. Circa (450-406 BC). AE Tetras. O: Eagle standing right, tearing at hare held in talons R: Crab, three pellets and crayfish left below SNG Copenhagen 75
I have the baby version of @Terence Cheesman ‘s beauty! Sicily Akragas AE Onkia 16mm 3.8g 425-406 BCE Eagle r fish fly - Crab conch SNG ANS 1062 var
Thank you for bringing this up, @Roman Collector. I was thinking about the following. It seems to me that a huge amount of high quality (and lesser too) coins are being offered this spring and that the amount of auction houses that offer auctions is more then ever. Can anyone recall this many auctions, ever before? I really can't keep up going through just the Roman imperial coins being offered, there are just too many. What is going on? Are collectors and dealers selling their collections/stock to benefit from the high prices? And despite the abundance of (quality) material being offered, I can't help but notice that prices are very strong. One would think that the surplus of material will lead to lower prices, but thats not the case. And talking about quality material, I'm also really curious how the EID MAR aureus currently offered for auction by NAC will go, thinking of the previous one sold by ROMA for 3.2 mln pounds! It's of lesser quality, but that provenance though...! And another question for the members of this board. Does anyone have a link (if it still exists) to the video on social media mentioned in this article, of Aaron Berk, representing Harlan J. Berk Ltd., bidding on the Pantikapaion stater that sold in 2012 from the Prospero Collection? I can't seem to find it.
