Lot 2979

Description

Sicily, Syracuse, (400-370 B.C.), silver dekadrachm by Euainetos, but unsigned, (42.74 g), obv. charioteer driving fast quadriga left, Nike flying above holding fillet, armour and helmet on steps in exergue, rev. head of Artemis-Arethusa to left, surrounded by four dolphins, traces of legend above and below on right a star below the dolphin, (cf.S.954, Gallatin dies (XXIII/KII) the obverse die also very close to Gallatin RXIX, Scavino (RIN Vol.CIX pp 133-173), 66, (dies D20/R37). Good very fine, minor surface roughness and edge breaks, very rare.

This coin has been in a private collection since the early 1980s and was purchased from an antiquities dealer in Melbourne, Australia over 35 years ago. The items come in a fitted box. The die with a star in this position is known from two published examples, one being illustrated in Rizzo M.G.S. Pl. LIII, 7, another is illustrated by Roma Numismatics as Auction V (lot 133).