Brennos

link : Bull left SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC. Æ (18mm, 5.77 g). Struck circa 308/7 BC. Young male head (Herakles?) left, wearing tainia / Bull butting left; above, uncertain letter above club. Cf. CNS 114; BAR Issue 25; HGC 2, 1492.

Link : Billon CARTHAGE. Second Punic War. Circa 203-201 BC. 1 1/2 Shekel (Billon, 27 mm, 8.88 g, 12 h). Head of Tanit to left, wearing wreath of grain ears, pendant earring and simple necklace. Rev. Horse standing right, head turned back to left and right foreleg raised. CNP 103. MAA 81. SNG Copenhagen 390.

Katane Greek Sicily, Katane, Tetradrachm, ca. 470-465 BC. AR (g 16,90; mm 27; h 5). Recumbent man-headed bull r.; above, branch; in ex. fish r., Rv. KAT - ANE, Nike advancing l., holding wreath tied with fillet. Rizzo pl. IX, 4; SNG Ashmolean 1702; Randazzo 54.

Link : Goat Sicily, Himera Æ Hemilitron or Hexonkion. Circa 420-415 BC. Pan advancing to right on back of goat, blowing shell and holding lagobolon; Corinthian helmet below / Nike advancing to left, holding aphlaston and hem of chiton; ΙΜΕΡΑΙOΝ and six pellets (mark of value) to left. CNS 27; HGC 2, 474. 5.95g, 19mm,

Link : Laureate head of Apollo Greek Coins. Catana. Tetradrachm circa 450-440, AR 17.18 g. Slow quadriga driven r. by charioteer, holding kentron and reins. Rev. KATANAIO – N Laureate head of Apollo r. Regling pl. 17, 391 (these dies). Rizzo pl. 10, 4 (these dies). SNG ANS 1244 (these dies). AMB 342 (this coin).

I guess you know you could have a date with that crab tomorrow and maybe have it in your bed in a few days.... 😉 https://www.sixbid.com/en/roma-numismatics-ltd/9878/greek/8480585/sicily-akragas-ar-tetradrachm-circa?term=akragas&orderCol=lot_number&orderDirection=asc&priceFrom&displayMode=large&auctionSessions=&sidebarIsSticky=false

link : snake Sicily, Akragas, Litra, ca. 406 BC. AR (g 0,68; mm 12; h 9).AKPA, Eagle standing l. on rock outcrop, tearing at snake held in talons;Rv. Crab; A below.Westermark, Coinage, 608; HGC 2, 114.

I tried many, many setups and spent hours improving the systems (photobox, stands, lighting of all kinds and so on). In the end, i found that the best light is the natural light at the end of the day... So now my setup is : standing in front of a window on the west side of my home, a few hours before the sunset (depending on the season) with the coin in hand and the camera around my neck, I move slightly the coin and I shoot until I get a picture I like. It's most of the time a question of luck 🙂 eg the only difference between these two photos is a tiny shift of the coin's inclination in hand : And the final result :

stunning coin !! it's funny because I have a Boehringer 28 tetradrachm too. even fractions depict pretty nice nike (hemidrachm)

Demareteion master Sicily, Syracuse AR Tetradrachm. Deinomenid Tyranny. Time of Hieron I, circa 475-470 BC. By the “Demareteion Master”. O/ Charioteer wearing a long chiton and holding a goad in his right hand and the reins in his left, driving a walking quadriga to right; Nike above, flying right to crown the horses; R/ Head of Arethusa right within linear circle, wearing olive wreath, pendant earring and necklace; her hair waved at the front and tied at the back with a ribbon; ΣVRAKOΣION and four dolphins swimming clockwise around. Boehringer unlisted combination (V198/R268) Three coins are known with the R268 reverse die, in my view the most beautiful of the Demareteion serie. Of course, my very worn coin doesn't give full credit to the engraver's talent that can be appreciate through the reverse R265 of the dekadrachm About the Demareteion (courtesy of Roma Numismatics): The series of coins known as the Demareteia are among the most famous and revered of all the ancient coins, being acclaimed as masterpieces of late archaic art. The engraver responsible for the series, the 'Demareteion Master' is rightly placed among the first rank of accomplished artists. The series takes its name from Queen Demarete, wife of the Syracusan tyrant Gelon, who Diodoros (XI. 26) reports as having intervened on behalf of the defeated Carthaginians at the peace negotiations following the Battle of Himera: "For when the ambassadors who had been dispatched from Carthage came to him and begged him with tears to treat them humanely, he granted them peace, exacting of them the expense he had incurred for the war, two thousand talents of silver, and requiring them further to build two temples in which they should place copies of the treaty. The Carthaginians, having unexpectedly gained their deliverance, not only agreed to all this but also promised to give in addition a gold crown to Damaretê, the wife of Gelon. For Damaretê at their request had contributed the greatest aid toward the conclusion of the peace, and when she had received the crown of one hundred gold talents from them, she struck a coin which was called from her a Damareteion. This was worth ten Attic drachmas and was called by the Sicilian Greeks, according to its weight, a pentekontalitron." The identity of the coin Diodoros mentions has long presented a mystery, fiercely debated, since the crown was said to be of gold and there were no known gold coins of Syracuse until many years later. At various times it has been claimed that Diodoros must have been referring to a gold issue of which no specimens survive, or another silver coin with which we are not familiar. Yet he specifically mentions the denomination and standard of the coin, and the case for the companion dekadrachm of this type being the coin referred to by Diodoros can no longer be seriously disputed. Though we shall not present here arguments relating to the dating of the series, the consensus is that the coin was struck some time after the Battle of Himera, most likely under Hieron, with the date range proposed by Alföldi, E. Boehringer and Arnold-Biucchi of 475-470 seeming the most plausible.

Double link : Drachm, Ex BCD Collection Larissa. Drachm circa 356-342, AR 6.20 g. Head of the nymph Larissa three-quarter facing l., wearing ampyx, pendant earring, and necklace. Rev. ΛΑΡΙΣ / ΑΙΩΝ Horse rolling r.; below, plant. Herrmann pl. V, 12. Lorber 2008, 61. BCD Thessaly 1156 (this coin).

link trident Lucania, Poseidonia AR Stater. Circa 530-500 BC. Poseidon, nude but for chlamys draped over his arms, standing right, preparing to cast trident held aloft in right hand, left arm extended; ΠOM to left / Incuse of obverse type, but details of figure of Poseidon and ethnic in relief.

It is really an awesome bargain !!

Congratulations ! it is an almost complete set of the Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum in 29 volumes. each book is worth about 150$-200$ depending on the volume and the condition (the Forni reprints are of course less exensive) Part of my library on greek coins :

Link : cast Sicily, Akragas, c. 440-430 BC. Cast Æ 23mm, 7.93g. O/ Eagle standing l. R/ Crab. Westermark, Coinage, 524 A; CNS I, 9; HGC 2, 129.

Link : Victory/Nike Sicily, Agathokles. Tetradrachm; Sicily, Agathokles; 317-289 BC. Syracuse, c. 310-308 BC, Tetradrachm,Obv: Head of Kore-Persephone r., wearing single drop earring, hair wreathed with barley, ΚΟΡΑΣ behind head. Rx: Nike standing r., draped from hips, wings spread on either side; she holds in r. hand a hammer, in l. hand a nail, with which she is about to fix helmet to trophy; to r., counterclockwise triskeles; [ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΣ]

it would be more secure for you, American collectors, to stop buying in European auctions, the shipments are too risky 😇

For a collector of greek coins, the lion is the easiest to have among the five. A couple of Lion Masks from Rhegion :

I had the same "chance" recently, thanks to the odd shape of a Kyzikos EL Stater. The coin was former Grand-duc Alexander Michaïlovitch Romanov collection, a cousin of the last Russian Tsar, whose coins were dispersed at the Naville & Cie auction IV in 1922. Moreover, thanks to the endless stream of staters from the mysterious "Siren collection" on the market for the last three years, I was able to acquire this coin at a rather attractive price.

One of my latest aquisition from the last Prunier "the fool" auction . A Stater of Opuntian Locris. Opus was regarded as the chief town of the Eastern Locrians. The city is mentioned in the catalog of the ships in Book 2 of Homer’s Iliad. The Locrians were placed under the authority of Ajax the Lesser who is depicting on the reverse of the staters. Lokris, Lokris Opuntii AR Stater (12.1g). Circa 420-380 BC. Head of Demeter l., wearing barley-wreath, triple-pendant earring and necklace / Ajax the Lesser, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, advancing r. on rocky ground, holding short sword in his r. hand, round shield decorated on its interior with coiled serpent in his l. hand; between his legs, a crested Corinthian helmet ; OPONTIΩN around. BCD 43, BMC 18 (Taf. I, 6).

I have quite a few coins depicting horses but here is my favourite SICILY. Entella . Punic issues, circa 300-289 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 24 mm, 17.00 g, 9 h). Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress. Rev. 𐤏𐤌𐤌𐤇𐤍𐤕 ('mmhnt = 'People of the Camp' in Punic) Head of a horse to left; behind, palm tree with two date clusters. Jenkins, Punic, 321 (O104/R263) from the collection of A. D. Moretti, NAC 13, 564.

Very few obols are known e.g. a single obol among a hoard of 903 fractions of Kolophon (CH I.3) cf the Kim & Kroll article in AJN 2008 the one of the hoard is 0.92g Mine is 0.87g The obverse is very similar but the reverse is more a quadripartite incuse than the other that looks more like a kroisos lion/bull reverse incuse punch.

congratulations @Curtisimo nice coin and great writeup ! Here is one of my favorite coin of Kroton with a pretty nice golden/chocolate patina. Bruttium. Croton. 530-500 BC. Stater, 7,18g (12h) O/ ϘΡΟ - TON. Tripod, legs surmounted by wreaths and terminating in lion's feet, two serpents emerging from the bowl, set on basis of three lines, the center dotted ; cable border. R/ Same type, incuse ; striated border HGC Italy 1444, HN Italy 2075, SNG ANS 235 (same obv. die), Gorini p.21 5 var.

very nice coin robinjojo ! i really like this type too. If i may, you have inverted the obverse and reverse but i see that CNG made the same mistake... Here is mine with the same edge flaws and a worst centering than yours on the obverse.