A pretty big precious metal coin that was stolen from a museum in Berlin is now back. Nah, not the Canadian 100 kilo gold piece - that one has most probably been cut into several pieces by now. The one that just returned is a Greek dekadrachm from around 400 BC. A silver coin with a diameter of 35 mm and a weight of about 43 g. Such a piece was not made to buy your groceries but for major purchases. Image link: The coin was found near Siracusa (Sicily, IT) about 100 years ago, and has changed its owner several times since then. It was in a Berlin museum until shortly after WW2 when it was confiscated or stolen. Later it turned out that it was in the US, but apparently it was, during the Cold War, not possible for the museum (then in East Berlin) to get it back. In 1965 it was stolen from somebody in Omaha, and "found" again in the mid-70s. Two years ago, a collector in New York bought it, and recently thought about offering it in an auction. But it seems that the Berlin Coin Cabinet (part of the State Museums, SMB) could buy it instead. What do we see? Well, I do not collect ancients, so here is a quick and hopefully not dirty translation of what the museum says. On one side there is a quadriga and a charioteer, Nike and some hoplite weapons. The other side features the nymph Arethusa and mentions the Surakos mint. Four dolphins refer to the sanctuary, and there is also the engraver mark "KI" for Kimon. The SMB also has an English version of its website, but currently the article is available in German only. Anyway, as from next year this dekadrachm will be presented in Berlin again. Christian
Great to see the coin back in Berlin Museum. Unfortunately, many rare art works/ archealogical artifacts/ rare coins are now in Russia, mostly looted by the Soviets in 1945. Same thing happened during Spanish Civil War 1936-39, when the Republicans (Communists) shipped Spanish gold/coins/crown jewels to the USSR. Stalin of course kept them.
Unfortunately looting and stealing works of art is fairly common under certain conditions and circumstances, like in times of war and dictatorial regimes. Nazi Germany for example confiscated many paintings and other treasures (or paid ridiculous amounts to people who were forced to to sell). In this particular case we are not talking about restitution either but about buying the coin from the owner. And if you look at the known "stations" of the piece, its odyssey is quite amazing. Glad it worked out though! Christian
Good news , thanks chrisild for mentioning. Harlan Berk put these coins on number 6 in his all time favorite list of 100.
That's a wonderful coin - I'm glad it's been returned to its rightful owner. I prefer some of Kimon's unsigned dies over his signed dies, as evidenced by the one I own:
@AncientJoe That photo is as incredible as the coin. What camera / lighting equipment and set up do you use? peter
