Double Signed Syracuse Tetradrachm

[John060167]

Hello, long time no see! Its 3:50am the morning after valentines day and my mind won’t let me sleep tonight, so here we go…🤣 I have not posted here in a while…mostly was posting Roman stuff before, but now its Greek season for me so gonna post some more Greek coins I’ve  had picked up! Here is a really awesome one I picked up at the last NYINC:

 

Sicily, Syracuse

AR tetradrachm, 23mm, 16.92g, 6h
struck 415-405bc, second democracy era
double signed dies by eumenos
Tudeer 31 (v11/r21)
Obv: charioteer , driving galloping quadriga left , holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; nike flying above, crowning charioteer; in exergue, dolphin chasing fish to right, EV signature below horses
Rev: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, head of arethusa left, wearing earring and necklace, four dolphins swimming around. EV signature below neck

 

Whats awesome about this coin is that it was struck during the height of Syracusan numismatic art following the defeat of the Athenians who invaded  Syracuse during the Peloponnesian war era (c.413bc if i recall) . The Syracusans  employed some of the finest artists around Sicily to make dies for the coins, and they started doing experiments with the dies and raising coin art to a new level not seen before. The artwork was so good that syracuse allowed the artists who made these dies to sign their coins , and the artists apparently became famous in their own day for it. You can see some really experimental designs, such as arethusa facing front, arethusa under water(which i really want, shared below-not mine),  and very lively variations of the quadriga. This is the era in which the decadrachms were made too, so yeah.

 

In this case, both dies were signed EV, by Eumenos it is said. I find it cool that some “signed” issues are signed only on one die while the other side is unsigned, some dies have both sides signed by different artists, Ive seen some by Eumenos and Eukleidas, etc. In this case, the coin was made only by one artist entirely, and it is cool that we know this was entirely made by one master engraver. Signed issues became was a thing in Sicily before 415bc, you see them in issues from Katane, Akragas, Leontini, etc. even Syracuse had an earlier case of a master engraver signing their coins. Sometimes the artist only signed with a symbol of some sort, not actual lettering like the “Leaf Master” of Leontini & Katane. The artists were not necessarily restricted to one city either but appeared to move around to different cities who contracted their services, which is interesting and i do wonder more on how that worked. Only if we knew more about these master engravers… would be cool to know their stories.

Have any coins from sicily? Please share! Cheers

PS: Here is an imgur video of the coin for anyone interested 

https://imgur.com/a/14xR1tA

 

Edited February 15, 2023 by John060167

[Al Kowsky]

4 hours ago, John060167 said:

Hello, long time no see! Its 3:50am the morning after valentines day and my mind won’t let me sleep tonight, so here we go…🤣 I have not posted here in a while…mostly was posting Roman stuff before, but now its Greek season for me so gonna post some more Greek coins I’ve  had picked up! Here is a really awesome one I picked up at the last NYINC:

 

Sicily, Syracuse

AR tetradrachm, 23mm, 16.92g, 6h
struck 415-405bc, second democracy era
double signed dies by eumenos
Tudeer 31 (v11/r21)
Obv: charioteer , driving galloping quadriga left , holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; nike flying above, crowning charioteer; in exergue, dolphin chasing fish to right, EV signature below horses
Rev: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, head of arethusa left, wearing earring and necklace, four dolphins swimming around. EV signature below neck

 

Whats awesome about this coin is that it was struck during the height of Syracusan numismatic art following the defeat of the Athenians who invaded  Syracuse during the Peloponnesian war era (c.413bc if i recall) . The Syracusans  employed some of the finest artists around Sicily to make dies for the coins, and they started doing experiments with the dies and raising coin art to a new level not seen before. The artwork was so good that syracuse allowed the artists who made these dies to sign their coins , and the artists apparently became famous in their own day for it. You can see some really experimental designs, such as arethusa facing front, arethusa under water(which i really want, shared below-not mine),  and very lively variations of the quadriga. This is the era in which the decadrachms were made too, so yeah.

 

In this case, both dies were signed EV, by Eumenos it is said. I find it cool that some “signed” issues are signed only on one die while the other side is unsigned, some dies have both sides signed by different artists, Ive seen some by Eumenos and Eukleidas, etc. In this case, the coin was made only by one artist entirely, and it is cool that we know this was entirely made by one master engraver. Signed issues became was a thing in Sicily before 415bc, you see them in issues from Katane, Akragas, Leontini, etc. even Syracuse had an earlier case of a master engraver signing their coins. Sometimes the artist only signed with a symbol of some sort, not actual lettering like the “Leaf Master” of Leontini & Katane. The artists were not necessarily restricted to one city either but appeared to move around to different cities who contracted their services, which is interesting and i do wonder more on how that worked. Only if we knew more about these master engravers… would be cool to know their stories.

Have any coins from sicily? Please share! Cheers

PS: Here is an imgur video of the coin for anyone interested 

https://imgur.com/a/14xR1tA

 

John, Congrats on scoring this rare & attractive Tet 🤩! I sold my only coin from Syracuse at a CNG auction not long ago, it's a common but handsome bronze 😊.

[Deinomenid]

Beautiful coin John. Congratulations.

You mention in your  post that there's an  underwater Arethusa  one there,  but I can't see it so I took the liberty of  posting one.

405-395 BC De Luynes 1208 (same dies). In the style of Eukleidas,Charioteer, holding kentron in right hand and reins in both, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in both hands; in exergue, dolphin right.,Head of Arethousa left, hair in band, wearing double-loop earring and plain necklace with frontal pendant; Σ-Y-PAK-O-ΣI-ΩN above hair, four dolphins around.

 

[Deinomenid]

And because you mention the leaf master, here he is. Arguably the Maestro della foglia was the engraver who began Katane's coin design transformation and who likely was  a major source of   inspiration for Choiron, Euainetos, Herakleides etc

Katane. Circa 434-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Reverse die signed by the "Maestro della foglia.". Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving fast quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with wreath held in both hands / Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath; plane leaf to left (signature), KATANAION to right. Mirone –; HGC 2, 572 (same dies as illustration); SNG ANS 1256; SNG Lloyd 898; Gillet 392; Gulbenkian 185 = Jameson 541; Pozzi 417; Rizzo pl. XII, 11 (all from the same dies).

 

[robinjojo]

9 hours ago, John060167 said:

Hello, long time no see! Its 3:50am the morning after valentines day and my mind won’t let me sleep tonight, so here we go…🤣 I have not posted here in a while…mostly was posting Roman stuff before, but now its Greek season for me so gonna post some more Greek coins I’ve  had picked up! Here is a really awesome one I picked up at the last NYINC:

 

Sicily, Syracuse

AR tetradrachm, 23mm, 16.92g, 6h
struck 415-405bc, second democracy era
double signed dies by eumenos
Tudeer 31 (v11/r21)
Obv: charioteer , driving galloping quadriga left , holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; nike flying above, crowning charioteer; in exergue, dolphin chasing fish to right, EV signature below horses
Rev: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, head of arethusa left, wearing earring and necklace, four dolphins swimming around. EV signature below neck

 

Whats awesome about this coin is that it was struck during the height of Syracusan numismatic art following the defeat of the Athenians who invaded  Syracuse during the Peloponnesian war era (c.413bc if i recall) . The Syracusans  employed some of the finest artists around Sicily to make dies for the coins, and they started doing experiments with the dies and raising coin art to a new level not seen before. The artwork was so good that syracuse allowed the artists who made these dies to sign their coins , and the artists apparently became famous in their own day for it. You can see some really experimental designs, such as arethusa facing front, arethusa under water(which i really want, shared below-not mine),  and very lively variations of the quadriga. This is the era in which the decadrachms were made too, so yeah.

 

In this case, both dies were signed EV, by Eumenos it is said. I find it cool that some “signed” issues are signed only on one die while the other side is unsigned, some dies have both sides signed by different artists, Ive seen some by Eumenos and Eukleidas, etc. In this case, the coin was made only by one artist entirely, and it is cool that we know this was entirely made by one master engraver. Signed issues became was a thing in Sicily before 415bc, you see them in issues from Katane, Akragas, Leontini, etc. even Syracuse had an earlier case of a master engraver signing their coins. Sometimes the artist only signed with a symbol of some sort, not actual lettering like the “Leaf Master” of Leontini & Katane. The artists were not necessarily restricted to one city either but appeared to move around to different cities who contracted their services, which is interesting and i do wonder more on how that worked. Only if we knew more about these master engravers… would be cool to know their stories.

Have any coins from sicily? Please share! Cheers

PS: Here is an imgur video of the coin for anyone interested 

https://imgur.com/a/14xR1tA

 

That's a wonderful tetradrachm of the Second Democracy!  It has all the bells - excellent flan, strike and style - truly an exceptional coin for this period where generally crudely produced coins are the rule. 

Congrats!

[Ryro]

Wow! That's a beauty. Coingrats!!!

 

[jdmKY]

Love the tetradrachm @John060167 Here’s a Caesarian denarius from Sicily in 47 BC. A Allienus was Caesar’s proconsul in Sicily and this coin shows the triskeles, symbol of Sicily, on the reverse. This is also the first of many of Caesar’s issues that feature Venus.

[Kazuma78]

20 hours ago, John060167 said:

Hello, long time no see! Its 3:50am the morning after valentines day and my mind won’t let me sleep tonight, so here we go…🤣 I have not posted here in a while…mostly was posting Roman stuff before, but now its Greek season for me so gonna post some more Greek coins I’ve  had picked up! Here is a really awesome one I picked up at the last NYINC:

 

Sicily, Syracuse

AR tetradrachm, 23mm, 16.92g, 6h
struck 415-405bc, second democracy era
double signed dies by eumenos
Tudeer 31 (v11/r21)
Obv: charioteer , driving galloping quadriga left , holding kentron in right hand, reins in both; nike flying above, crowning charioteer; in exergue, dolphin chasing fish to right, EV signature below horses
Rev: ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ, head of arethusa left, wearing earring and necklace, four dolphins swimming around. EV signature below neck

 

Whats awesome about this coin is that it was struck during the height of Syracusan numismatic art following the defeat of the Athenians who invaded  Syracuse during the Peloponnesian war era (c.413bc if i recall) . The Syracusans  employed some of the finest artists around Sicily to make dies for the coins, and they started doing experiments with the dies and raising coin art to a new level not seen before. The artwork was so good that syracuse allowed the artists who made these dies to sign their coins , and the artists apparently became famous in their own day for it. You can see some really experimental designs, such as arethusa facing front, arethusa under water(which i really want, shared below-not mine),  and very lively variations of the quadriga. This is the era in which the decadrachms were made too, so yeah.

 

In this case, both dies were signed EV, by Eumenos it is said. I find it cool that some “signed” issues are signed only on one die while the other side is unsigned, some dies have both sides signed by different artists, Ive seen some by Eumenos and Eukleidas, etc. In this case, the coin was made only by one artist entirely, and it is cool that we know this was entirely made by one master engraver. Signed issues became was a thing in Sicily before 415bc, you see them in issues from Katane, Akragas, Leontini, etc. even Syracuse had an earlier case of a master engraver signing their coins. Sometimes the artist only signed with a symbol of some sort, not actual lettering like the “Leaf Master” of Leontini & Katane. The artists were not necessarily restricted to one city either but appeared to move around to different cities who contracted their services, which is interesting and i do wonder more on how that worked. Only if we knew more about these master engravers… would be cool to know their stories.

Have any coins from sicily? Please share! Cheers

PS: Here is an imgur video of the coin for anyone interested 

https://imgur.com/a/14xR1tA

 

Beautiful coin and a wonderful pickup! It is a type I would love to eventually add to my own collection.

I completely understand why the coinage of Sicily is so hotly collected. So many talented engravers and great designs. I have a handful myself but am always looking to add more:

[John060167]

Late as hell but thanks for sharing Deinomenid! I guess I spoke on them but showed no images haha…I really like the underwater portrait  type and hope to get one eventually; right now am building my sicilian typeset so that one’s on my hit list 👍

 

Maestro della Foglia is interesting since unlike Eumenos and his contemporaries, he only signed with a leaf! I wonder how do they know his issues of Katane and Leontinoi are really of him when his signatures are different anyway?

 

Anyway, I have one issue from him, but from Leontinoi. I love it quite a bit!

 

Cheers

On 2/15/2023 at 11:31 AM, Deinomenid said:

And because you mention the leaf master, here he is. Arguably the Maestro della foglia was the engraver who began Katane's coin design transformation and who likely was  a major source of   inspiration for Choiron, Euainetos, Herakleides etc

Katane. Circa 434-415 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Reverse die signed by the "Maestro della foglia.". Charioteer, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving fast quadriga right; above, Nike flying right, crowning horses with wreath held in both hands / Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath; plane leaf to left (signature), KATANAION to right. Mirone –; HGC 2, 572 (same dies as illustration); SNG ANS 1256; SNG Lloyd 898; Gillet 392; Gulbenkian 185 = Jameson 541; Pozzi 417; Rizzo pl. XII, 11 (all from the same dies).

 

 

[John060167]

On 2/16/2023 at 12:26 AM, Kazuma78 said:

Beautiful coin and a wonderful pickup! It is a type I would love to eventually add to my own collection.

I completely understand why the coinage of Sicily is so hotly collected. So many talented engravers and great designs. I have a handful myself but am always looking to add more:

Amazing set, wow! Especially love the entella tet and the Agathokles tet, super jealous. How long you have been building this  set?

 

Cheers

[Deinomenid]

5 hours ago, John060167 said:

Maestro della Foglia is interesting since unlike Eumenos and his contemporaries, he only signed with a leaf! I wonder how do they know his issues of Katane and Leontinoi are really of him when his signatures are different anyway?

 

Rizzo's your man here. He did the bulk of the work on this theory. Sadly, as with so many books  on the subject, his output was limited  in number of copies and is very expensive to buy now but  Monete Greche della Sicilia by Giulio Emanuele Rizzo is a good starting  point. His  plates and a bit of the text are available on forumancient.

(He was an interesting man,  born in Syracuse,   high school Katane, taught in Messina  (coins of which 3 cities are all shown in this thread!) before becoming one of the greats  of academia. Also  a signer of Croce's Anti-Fascist  manifesto, no small thing.)

 

 

 

 

[Kazuma78]

15 hours ago, John060167 said:

Amazing set, wow! Especially love the entella tet and the Agathokles tet, super jealous. How long you have been building this  set?

 

Cheers

Thanks! The first of this little group I bought back in the summer of 2020- so just shy of 3 years for this grouping. I've been collecting ancients primarily since early 2020- though it had nothing to do with covid- that was only an odd (and unfortunate) coincidence of timing. Unfortunate because prices seem to have skyrocketed since then. I had bought an ancient here or there before then but nothing insanely serious.