Sicily, land of some of the most artistic treasures of antiquity...and these coins as well/Newphotos

Lovely!

 

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...man..i'm late for this party...

i agree RC..nice coins Erin!
....but better late than never...i concur...ive always been impressed by the Sicilian moneyers .. have several from the Island but will just post a couple......one or both(if i remember right, the one of the left.... came with a Group of Sicilian coinage) for the of these were mint....ed by the Carthaginians (hey @Ryro you gotta stop buying Roman propaganda) while there

 

SICILY


SYRACUSE 2nd Democr 466-405 BCE Æ Tetras 2.7g 15mm c.425 BCE Arethusa dolphins - Octopus 3 pellets SNG ANS 376 Calciati II.21.1



Sicily Akragas AE Onkia 16mm 3.8g 425-406 BCE Eagle r fish fly - Crab conch SNG ANS 1062 var



Sicily Syracuse AE Onkia 12-10mm 1.4g 425-415 BCE Arethusa - Octopus BMC 249



Sicily Kamarina AE 15mm 3.4g 420-405 BCE Athena Owl Lizard 3 dots Sear Gk 1063



SICILY Kamarina Æ Onkia 13mm 1.5g 420-405 BCE- Gorgon tongue - KAMA owl r lizard in claw pellet in ex SNG Münch 411

 

Syracuse Ae 22 Minted during the reign of Hiketas 287-278 BC Obv Head of Zeus Hellanios laureate right Rv Eagle standing left wings spread HGC 1449 8.46 grms 22 mm Photo by W. Hansen It is interesting that the die engravers needed to identify this image of Zeus with an inscription. Otherwise it is likely that without this identification and despite the placement of his familial bird the eagle, it would be likely that we would assume that what we are looking at is an image of Apollo. The need for a younger more vigorous version of the god coupled with his surname Hellanios suggests an effort by Hiketas to identify himself as the local champion of the Greeks against a non Greek foe.

 

Beautiful obverse.

That is one of the youngest portrayals of Zeus that I have ever seen, not the heavily bearded patriarchal image that one normally encounters on Greek coinage.

 

Beautiful example and very illuminating!
Mine is green with envy for the detail on yours and lacks any inscription and came with the identification of Apollo. I assume mine is young Zeus then?

Sicily, Syracuse

Hiketas, circa 287-278 BC. 18 mm Laureate head of Apollo right, palladium in left field / Eagle standing left; star in left field. CNS II, n. 168; SNG

 

Ryro, I have the same Hiketas coin as you , there is something written ? next to the eagle but I can't read it.

 

I found a (rough) little coin stuck in the rocks at seaside Cefalu Sicily.
I identified it on wild winds site as Hermes / Caduceus circa 250ish bc.
It is marked Kef also so minted locally. I read that it is rare ( I understand not valuable) but wondered just how rare? What that means?
Set me off looking and I found a few more coins but rougher still ! Inc a heiron / trident

 

Do you have pictures?