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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2033218, member: 57495&quot;]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.&nbsp; This rough little 5th century BC bronze from Himera arrived last week and cost me all of $6 shipped.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;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. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]370258[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>SICILY, Himera</b></p><p>AE Tetras</p><p>2.4g, 16mm</p><p>Circa 420 - 409 BC</p><p>Calciati I p. 43, 32/1</p><p>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. </p><p>R: Nike flying left, holding aphlaston and hem of skirt.</p><p><br /></p><p>And since I didn&#039;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 :</p><p><br /></p><p>Himera was one of the earliest and most significant Greek settlements on the northern coast of Sicily.&nbsp; 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. </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]370259[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>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.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Even as that battle was a disaster for the Persians, the Battle of Himera on Sicily ended with the crushing defeat of the Carthaginians.&nbsp; 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.</p><p><br /></p><p>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.&nbsp; This prosperity, however, was not to last.&nbsp; In 409 BC, Hamilcar Mago&#039;s grandson, Hannibal Mago (not to be confused with the later and more famous Hannibal Barca), sailed to Sicily with a large invading army.&nbsp; He had been charged by the Carthaginian senate to attack and sack the city of Selinos on behalf of the city of Segesta.&nbsp; But Hannibal did not stop after he had completed that task... he marched on towards Himera with the intention of avenging his grandfather&#039;s defeat and death 70 years earlier.&nbsp; 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&#039;s defenses were soon overwhelmed.&nbsp; On the site of his grandfather&#039;s defeat, Hannibal is said to have sacrificed 3000 Greek prisoners.&nbsp; He then had Himera so completely destroyed that it was never rebuilt again. </p><p><br /></p><p>Post &#039;em if you&#039;ve got em! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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