A dream Pickup: Syracuse Decadrachm of Euainetos

[John060167]

Well, here is one hell of a pickup:

Dionysius I (405-367 BC)

AR decadrachm, 36mm, 41.16g, 9h

struck 405-390BC, Gallatin R.III/C.IV

Reverse signed by Euainetos

Obverse: Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, military harness, shield, greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; AΘΛA below.

Reverse: Head of Arethousa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; Σ[Υ-ΡΑ-Κ-ΟΣ]-ΙΩΝ behind hair, four dolphins swimming around, EY-AINE along lower edge.

 

Definitely a dream coin for many of us, I never forget my first time handling the type. This one is particularly great since the obverse is so well struck and centered, without any die rust which is so prevalent for the decadrachm series. The reverse is a bit rough due to find patina but will be conserved soon anyway. Still, on the reverse, you have a beautiful portrait of Arethusa, designed by none other than Euainetos who signed the die right below her bust, below the dolphin. 

Euainetos’ decadrachm design is considered to be the more famous of the two types of decadrachm, against Kimon’s-they were copied much more than Kimon’s dies in other ancient coins afterwards. Euainetos’ dies are characterized as giving off an idealistic “nature goddess” vibe. In comparison, Kimon’s dies are characterized as a more realistic “Syracusan socialite” vibe, with her hairstyle likely influenced by the contemporary Syracusan ladies around at the time (I have shared one just below to show the difference).

It seems that Euainetos was likely an apprentice to the diemaster Kimon- it was Kimon’s coinage that came first. Also, Euainetos’ decadrachm is more common than Kimon’s decadrachm today too, with both more examples and more dies of Euainetos known. Possibly total about 1000 syracuse dekadrachms are known today from both Kimon, Euainetos and unsigned varieties. 

Here is a size comparison between the decadrachm and different prominent coins, from left to right:

Syracuse decadrachm, Peace Dollar, Walking Liberty half dollar, Athens tetradrachm

 

Do you have any dream coins in your collection, or one you wanna get one day? Please share!

Cheers!

Edited October 23, 2023 by John060167

[Al Kowsky]

55 minutes ago, John060167 said:

Well, here is one hell of a pickup:

Dionysius I (405-367 BC)

AR decadrachm, 36mm, 41.16g, 9h

struck 405-390BC, Gallatin R.III/C.IV

Reverse signed by Euainetos

Obverse: Charioteer, holding kentron in extended right hand and reins in left, driving fast quadriga left; above, Nike flying right, crowning charioteer with wreath held in her extended hands; below heavy exergual line, military harness, shield, greaves, cuirass, and crested Attic helmet, all connected by a horizontal spear; AΘΛA below.

Reverse: Head of Arethousa left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; Σ[Υ-ΡΑ-Κ-ΟΣ]-ΙΩΝ behind hair, four dolphins swimming around, EY-AINE along lower edge.

 

Definitely a dream coin for many of us, I never forget my first time handling the type. This one is particularly great since the obverse is so well struck and centered, without any die rust which is so prevalent for the decadrachm series. The reverse is a bit rough due to find patina but will be conserved soon anyway. Still, on the reverse, you have a beautiful portrait of Arethusa, designed by none other than Euainetos who signed the die right below her bust, below the dolphin. 

Euainetos’ decadrachm design is considered to be the more famous of the two types of decadrachm, against Kimon’s-they were copied much more than Kimon’s dies in other ancient coins afterwards. Euainetos’ dies are characterized as giving off an idealistic “nature goddess” vibe. In comparison, Kimon’s dies are characterized as a more realistic “Syracusan socialite” vibe, with her hairstyle likely influenced by the contemporary Syracusan ladies around at the time (I have shared one just below to show the difference).

It seems that Euainetos was likely an apprentice to the diemaster Kimon- it was Kimon’s coinage that came first. Also, Euainetos’ decadrachm is more common than Kimon’s decadrachm today too, with both more examples and more dies of Euainetos known. Possibly total about 1000 syracuse dekadrachms are known today from both Kimon, Euainetos and unsigned varieties. 

Here is a size comparison between the decadrachm and different prominent coins, from left to right:

Syracuse decadrachm, Peace Dollar, Walking Liberty half dollar, Athens tetradrachm

 

Do you have any dream coins in your collection, or one you wanna get one day? Please share!

Cheers!

Congrats on scoring this masterpiece of ancient art 🤩! The obverse on your coin has unusually fine detail compared to most of the coins I've seen.

[robinjojo]

That's a gorgeous example!  Congrats!

How do you plan to conserve the coin?

[Greekcoin21]

Impressive example, wish I had obtained this coin.

[Phil Anthos]

Talk about a 'grail' coin... just stunning!

~ Peter 

[kirispupis]

That's a stunning pickup of a coin I'll likely never own.

Here's my "grail" coin. Normally I don't post my targets, but in this case I feel fairly certain I'll never even bid on one.

[Curtisimo]

Wow!!!! What a fantastic and historically interesting coin. The armor on the obverse is a reference to the Syracusan victory over Athens during the Peloponnesian War.

[CPK]

Dream pickup is right! 😮 What beautiful coin!

[Roman Collector]

Wow!!! What a score!!

I have a lot of dream coins. Here's but one of them. This reverse type is known only the sestertius denomination and it's very rare, so I can only dream of acquiring one for my numophylacium. It is known only from three museum specimens cited by Strack and a single coin sold at auction (this coin). The coin depicts oldest daughter, Domitia Faustina and baby Lucilla.

Sestertius, RIC 1382; Bertolami E-Auction 59, lot 739, 20 May, 2018.

[Phil Anthos]

To dream, perchance to own...  nah, not in this lifetime. But this coin would be my holiest of grails, the very first coin in the Vlasto catalog of Tarentine coins. The obverse is a beautiful rendition of Hera, while the reverse depicts the young Taras reaching out to his father Poseidon, an allegory for the colony Taras appealing to the mother city Sparta for military aid.

Vlasto 1...

[Edessa]

This was my "grail" coin for the year. Always wanted one.

Celtic, Dobunni. Bodvoc. Circa 15-10 BC. AV Stater (17mm, 5.50g, 3h). Boduoc Bold type (Dobunnic C). Obv: BODVOC on plain field. Rev: Disjointed horse right with triple tail; wheel below, two pellet-in-annulets and crescent above; pellets and small crosses around. Ref: ABC 2039; Van Arsdell 1052-1; SCBC 388. Lustrous. Extremely Fine. Ex CNG 123 (23 May 2023), Lot 925. 

[Al Kowsky]

42 minutes ago, Edessa said:

This was my "grail" coin for the year. Always wanted one.

Celtic, Dobunni. Bodvoc. Circa 15-10 BC. AV Stater (17mm, 5.50g, 3h). Boduoc Bold type (Dobunnic C). Obv: BODVOC on plain field. Rev: Disjointed horse right with triple tail; wheel below, two pellet-in-annulets and crescent above; pellets and small crosses around. Ref: ABC 2039; Van Arsdell 1052-1; SCBC 388. Lustrous. Extremely Fine. Ex CNG 123 (23 May 2023), Lot 925. 

Edessa, Congrats on winning this exquisite rarity 🤩! I had my eye on this coin & had a feeling it would sell well past estimate. Your coin looks like a choice mint state example, far superior to the coin pictured in Chris Rudd's book 😉. The reverse on your coin is similar to a Celtic coin in my collection.

 

[panzerman]

Mine is this 1741 AV 20 Dukaten from Basel/ coin sold for 1.2M Sfrcs. Guys like me can only have its "little brother" in my coll.😝