SICILY, Naxos. Circa 430/20-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 16.49 g, 2h). Near EF.

Triton XXVII
Lot: 55. Estimated: $ 50 000

Greek, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 75 000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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SICILY, Naxos. Circa 430/20-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24.5mm, 16.49 g, 2h). Bearded head of Dionysos right, wearing tainia decorated with an ivy branch / Silenos, nude and bearded, squatting half-left, holding up kantharos in right hand and resting his left hand on his knee, tail hanging to left below; large ivy vine with leaves to left, NAΞIO[N] to right; all within shallow concave circular incuse. Cahn 103 (V66/R85); Campana 15; HGC 2, 984; BMC 18 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 493 (same dies); SNG Lockett 843 (same dies); Gillet 486 (same obv. die); Morgan 124 (same dies); Rizzo pl. XXVIII, 17 (same obv. die). Deep collection tone, some find patina. Near EF. Fine late classical style. Rare.

From the Father & Son Collection. Ex Gorny & Mosch 261 (4 March 2019), lot 81; John R. Farnell, Sr. Collection.

With only one obverse and five reverse dies identified, the issue was apparently very short, and served a specific purpose for which we may only speculate today. Unlike the earlier archaic style tetradrachms, struck shortly after Naxian independence from Syracuse in 461 BC, these coins display a genuine classical style, with lifelike depictions of Dionysos, the god of the vine, on the obverse and Silenos on the reverse. The god’s languid eye and countenance are now more physiologically correct, replacing the earlier Archaic conventions. The hair of his head and beard are now tousled, and the diadem, with its interweaving ivy, is less formalized than earlier, with the ear now overlapping the diadem. Here too, the satyr Silenos is a more rounded version than that of the Aitna Master’s and a depiction much nearer his traditional description as a fleshy individual with a paunch and a round, balding head.

The final winners of all Triton XXVII lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 9-10 January 2024.

Triton XXVII – Session One – Lot 1-337 will be held Tuesday morning, 9 January 2024 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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