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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;dougsmit, post: 4905057, member: 19463&quot;]You asked for AE or tets. I&#039;ll play but my favorite coins of Syracuse are the minor silvers.&nbsp; </p><p>This AE23 (hemilitron) of Hiketas II, 287-278 BC Favorito 50f was overstruck on an earlier Syracuse Sear 1206 (Artemis/thunderbolt).</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1183288[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My tet is very special to me because it is such a mess.&nbsp; It is Boehringer 703 (v345/r481).&nbsp; (Does anyone own the Boehringer book on these? It is a die study for the specialist but you have to admire the work put into it.) Reverse die 481 (the head on these is the reverse) failed seriously before a replacement die was ready to go so the mint kept using it.&nbsp; Mine is about halfway through the gradual deterioration and shows a chunk missing from the die at 11 o&#039;clock.&nbsp; Coins exist with a much larger break extending across the top.&nbsp; Compare to #703 on page 125 of the link below.&nbsp; On that one they did not tip the die so it is even and even worse on the break. </p><p><a href="https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/pdfs/Syracuse_Boehringer_and_Tudeer.pdf" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/pdfs/Syracuse_Boehringer_and_Tudeer.pdf" rel="nofollow">https://www.wildwinds.com/coins/pdfs/Syracuse_Boehringer_and_Tudeer.pdf</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Tets are not terribly rare coins but nice specimens are.&nbsp; The break here caused the hammer crew to tilt the die a bit reducing the pressure on the broken edge but making the one edge weakly struck.&nbsp; This same tip caused the reverse face and legend to be rather well struck.&nbsp; I only afforded this coin because people avoided the flat parts even though the opposite edges were rather nice.&nbsp; I see all the letters in the city name and a pretty face.&nbsp; I deserve no more.&nbsp;&nbsp; I bought it in 1991 and will be keeping it for the&nbsp; duration.[ATTACH=full]1183296[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Now for the coins I like best.&nbsp; My AR litra (474-450 BC) with particularly graceful octopus would be in high demand even if the obverse were half as good as the reverse.&nbsp; It is not.&nbsp; Many of these little coins we see in the market are individual &#039;field&#039; finds that spent too much time in soil not good for their surfaces.&nbsp; Most of these have the ethnic abbreviated to four letters but this die spelled out Syrakosion even though calling this specimen &#039;full legend&#039; might be a bit much.&nbsp; This one came to me in 1988.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1183304[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>This more common (less popular and cheaper) small silver of Syracuse is a litra with Arethusa backed by a four spoked wheel.&nbsp; These have no denomination mark but were valued at 1/20 of the tetradrachm (aka a 20 litra piece).&nbsp; These are not rare.&nbsp; Syracuse fans should be able to find one with some looking.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1183301[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Much less common is the half litra (hemilitron - 440-430 BC) of the same basic type but the cutters at Syracuse restyled Arathusa with almost every die.&nbsp; I find this one particularly charming.&nbsp; The half coin used six dots on the reverse using the standard 12 onkia to the litra dot system.&nbsp; If you find one of these any better than this, you will have to pay.&nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1183302[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Last and most certainly least is a silver hexas in terrible condition from flan lamination but showing the two dots of this 1/6 litra denomination. This is my lightest Greek silver coin at 0.05g but it has lost a lot of its weight to exfoliation.&nbsp; I got this one in 1992 and have been looking for an upgrade since.&nbsp; No luck.&nbsp; The hexas is 1/6 of the litra and the litra is 1/20 of the tetradrachm so this coin is 1/120th of a tetradrachm.&nbsp; If you find one of these for 1/120 the price of a tet, buy it when you can.&nbsp; &nbsp; </p><p>[ATTACH=full]1183303[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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