If a picture is worth a thousand words then how much is a picture of an ancient coin worth? This coin has gotta be worth at least one thousand and two words. Those 2 extra words could be: reverse/obverse- such an unusual thing for us to see. A very busy, action packed front to a coin...with a beautiful, laid back, portrait on the reverse?? Or they could be: masterful/useful- Just a few decades PREceding the masters that, like Hendrix lighting his guitar on fire at Monterrey, would reach the peak of their craft and have the audacity to even sign their dies!...compared to my version clearly heavily used in commerce while still showing (imo) all the signs of a master die maker before the Sicilian saints like Kimon, Eukleidas & Ryro to name a few. The ancient Sicilians didn't have any reservations about handling and using these iconic coin masterpieces to buy their wine and bread with. Certainly the 2 additional words could be: SCREAMING DEAL- Frank Robinson's last auction had some of everything. There were a ton of coins that I would love, but had my heart set to win 1 of 3. The other two beauties went to someone whom wanted them more (and could afford em). So don't ask me how I won this doozy for $10 over the opening bid??? Of course it being a tet, it is a decent piece of metal. But since ya can't hold it, just smile and enjoy. My pics vs Frank's... SICILY. Syracuse. Deinomenid Tyranny. 485-466 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm - 17.45 g). Struck circa 480-475 BC. Charioteer driving walking quadriga right, holding kentron and reins; Nike flying above crowning horses / Diademed head of Arethusa right, surrounded by four dolphins swimming clockwise. Boehringer 134 (V60/R93); SNG ANS 38 (same dies); Randazzo -. On top of all that coolness, I think I found a die match on AC search! Poste your thoughts, Sicilians, tets, FSR wins or anything that floats yer boat.
Sweet deal! The reverse (portrait side) looks like a die match to the acsearch coin. The obverse is different. Now find an obverse match!
Nice job capturing the Syracuse Tet @Ryro ! I have gotten several wins from Frank... here is a recent one I like: FSR Capture: RR Anon 211-208 BCE AR Denarius 20.9mm 3.7g Rome Hd Roma R X - Dioscuri riding spears, stars ROMA tablet Cr 44-5 Syd 167 RSC 1a Scarce Ex: FSR Syracuse Tet: Syracuse Tyrant Gelon 458-478 BCE AR Tet 24mm 16.7g Slow Biga Victory Artemus-Arethusa 4 dolphins Sear-Greek 914 Ex: Reeve Collection Ex: @Ancientnoob
Wow, great deal! It's way better centered than many that would have cost much more. As it is, I think if you had scored it for even a dollar less, I'd have to Syr-accuse you of outright theft. SICILY, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. 17.24g, 28.7mm. SICILY, Syracuse, Second Democracy, struck circa 430 BC. Boehringer Series XX, 644 (V327/R443); HGC 2, 1319; SNG ANS 209. O: Charioteer driving slow quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses. R: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, Head of Arethusa right, wearing hooked-shaped earring and necklace, hair bound in sakkos ornamented with a meander pattern; four dolphins around. Ex Colin E. Pitchfork Collection; Künker 89 (8 March 2004), lot 1097
https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/pdfs/Syracuse_Boehringer_and_Tudeer.pdf http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Area_IV_map/Syracusa_map/Boehringer_034.html The two links above might prove interesting for comparing your coin to Boeh. 134 and 135. I have talked myself out of buying a copy of Boehringer several times usually based on the fact I will probably not be buying an more of these coins. I can not vouch for the correctness of the ID's on the third party resources since I do not have the actual book.
Thanks @Jwt708! I plan on upgrading my camera for Christmas. So hopefully I'll have even better captures. @TIF I genuinely appreciate the feedback. I thought that it was a double die match but can see a few disparities looking closer. I'll have to continue to search AC search then! That avatar of yours is certainly a masterpiece (and one of my favorite coins). May I see the obverse and any other Syracuse coins you'd be willing to share? @Alegandron fantastic win from Frank. What an iconic coin. And BEAUTIFUL tet! Very similar and even more outstanding than mine! @zumbly haha! Great pun and even greater coin @dougsmit wonderful link. There is a certain magic to looking at the evaluation of these coins. Like looking at the old chart of man evolving from ape you see the rough patches smooth out over time. I certainly think it's a spot on die match to the reverse of 134...now if I could only find the obverse match. You had mentioned not be buying anymore of these. Does that mean you have any to share?
Sure . It's one of my favorite coins too . The obverse of the Agathokles tetradrchm is my avatar, although a few places show the quadriga as obverse. Going with the tradition of calling the hammer die the reverse, I think the quadriga is clearly the reverse. That side is slightly concave. SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles (317-289 BCE) struck 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 https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancient-adventures-in-bidland-agathokles-tetradrachm.243930/ Not in the same league as the Agathokles tet but a favorite nonetheless is this little tetras with its sweetly delicate rendering of the nymph: 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 A pristine hippocamp: SICILY, Syracuse. Dionysius I (400-345 BC) Æ 20 mm, 8.23 gm Struck c. 390 BCE Obv: head of Athena left, wearing wreathed Corinthian helmet pushed back on head Rev: hippocamp left Ref: Calciati 35. SNG ANS 426 Formerly slabbed
I find it interesting that you can scroll through all the types and find some with the head on the obverse and some on the reverse. I have not heard an explanation of a reason behind this. http://www.magnagraecia.nl/coins/Area_IV_map/Syracusa_map/Syracusa1.html This was a period of great artists. Perhaps there was disagreement on how these things should be done ad each workshop made their own rules. My hexas (5mm) is head on obverse as are most small coins. At Baltimore I saw a worn hemidrachm with head on reverse but it was $400 so it did not come home with me.
Yours are real beauties ! Mine is really in bad shape. Someone scratched it on both sides :-(((( how could anyone do something like this? Anyway, just sharing my pain: AR Tetradrachm, 24 mm, 16.56 g; Sicily, Syracuse, ca. 482 - 480 BC under the authority of the Deinomenid Tyranny Reference: Boehringer 89 (not sure) Obverse: (ΣVRA-KOS-I-ON) head Artemis-Arethusa r. hair in sphendone; two dolphins in lower spaces, missing at least one dolphin above Reverse: charioteer driving walking quadriga, kentron in r. hand, reigns in left, Nike above crowning horses and this one in some better shape: Second Democracy AR Tetradrachm, 24 x 31 mm, 16.84 g; Sicily, Syracuse, struck ca. 450 - 440 BC Reference: Boehringer Series XXIII, 690 Obverse: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙ-ΟΝ, head of Arethusa right, hair in sakkos decorated with meander pattern in band; four dolphins around. Reverse: Charioteer driving Biga to right crowned by Nike flying left above
