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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;akeady, post: 7889612, member: 83175&quot;]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:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.coinworld.com/images/default-source/news/lot017together.tmb-slide-1900.jpg?sfvrsn=80698db8_2" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>Not even slabbed <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/silver-tetradrachm-of-sicily-sets-record-price.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/silver-tetradrachm-of-sicily-sets-record-price.html" rel="nofollow">https://www.coinworld.com/news/precious-metals/silver-tetradrachm-of-sicily-sets-record-price.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>For decadrachms, I prefer the Euainetos version, as in the slabbed one above, to the Kimon version.</p><p><br /></p><p>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&#039;s a wonderful coin collection.&nbsp;&nbsp; If I recall correctly, there were 29 decadrachms in one case alone.</p><p>Of course they also had a Kimon tetradrachm, probably not as nice as the record-breaking one above, but still lovely.</p><p>However, there was a really stunning tetradrachm of Katane by Herakleidas with the facing head of Apollo which really stood out.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are a few varieties of these and to be honest I haven&#039;t found any online that look as nice.&nbsp;&nbsp; I have no photo&#039; of the one in the museum as they didn&#039;t allow photography and I observed the rules - if I go back, I&#039;ll definitely take a photo&#039;.</p><p><br /></p><p>This one sold by CNG is nice, but not as striking as I remember the other one:</p><p><br /></p><p><img src="https://www.cngcoins.com/photos/enlarged/11000120.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p><a href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=371282" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=371282" rel="nofollow">https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=371282</a></p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, that&#039;s my favourite, but I&#039;ll have to make a lot of money and wait a long time to find the right one <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>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:</p><p><br /></p><p>“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.”</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/07/how-visit-to-sicily-inspired-yeats-in.html" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/07/how-visit-to-sicily-inspired-yeats-in.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.patrickcomerford.com/2015/07/how-visit-to-sicily-inspired-yeats-in.html</a></p><p><br /></p><p>ATB,</p><p>Aidan.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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