Another impulse buy, Hieron II

[expat]

Once again I purchased a Greek coin without knowing anything about the ruler. So, apart from the small Wikipedia writeup, anything interesting about him or the issue type of the coin will be gladly read by me,

Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II. 274-216 BC. 19mm (6.10 gm). Diademed head of Poseidon left, hair tied by a band, / IEPW-NOS, Tripod flanked by dolphins; A at base. Calciati II pg. 369, 194; SNG ANS 964ff; Favorito 86.

[seth77]

Savoca auctions have become very popular lately.

[Ryro]

Very fun and good looking coin, from a very interesting man. Coingrats!

Here's mine before it was freed from its tomb (I won it for about what it costs to have it entombed!?)

Hieron II, 275-215 B.C. SICILY. Syracuse. AE Litra, 263-218 B.C. NGC Ch VF. HGC-2, 1550. Obverse: Head of Poseidon left, wearing tainia; Reverse: Ornamented trident head; downward dolphin to left and right, I to lower left, AΠ to lower right. Well centered and struck, this example features yellow-brown surfaces and some scattered spots of green. From the Poseidon Collection. Purchased from Stack’s Bowers Gallery Aug 2021

[Alegandron]

Here is a repurposed coin, originally Hieron II…

It was sold to me as JANUS...

(I knew that it was not a Janus As... but had to learn what it was all about.)


RR Anon AE Sextans-Hieron II Overstrike 214-212 BCE S1211 Cr69-6

This was sold as a Roman Republic Janus Head... none were ever this small. It turns out to be an overstrike of a Roman Sextans over a Syracuse Hieron II.

A) Sicily, Syracuse, Hieron II, 275-215 BCE AE head of Poseidon left, rev. IEP-ÙNOÓ, trident flanked by dolphins, Ó[?] below (SNG Morcom 828 var.), dark green patina.
Obv. Diademed head of Poseidon left.
Rev. IEPΩNOΣ, Ornamented trident head flanked by two dolphins; below, N.

OVERSTRUCK by:

B) Anonymous AE-Sextans, Sicily, 211-208 BC.
Head of Mercury right wearing winged petasos; • • above. Rev. Prow of galley right; grain ear above, IC before, ROMA below.
Crawford 69/6b; Sydenham 310d; BMCRR 280.

19mm / 5.3g

( this is one of my coins…)

Sicily Syracuse Hieron II 275-215 BCE AE20 Poseidon Trident Dolphin Left


Then Rome conquered them, and overstruck their AE's to make Sextans:

(This another of my coins)


RR Anon AE Sextans 211-206 BCE Prob Sicily-Katana mintage Cr 69-6a Sear 1211

[panzerman]

Nice coins! I buy/ win a lot of coins on "impulse" urge. Its the ultimate way to get nice additions. My last impulse urge/ yesterday when I bought this....

[Marsyas Mike]

Although I already had one of these, on impulse, I picked up another one of these Hieron II bronzes on the cheap and it is one of my favorite coins.  Condition isn't great, but the portrait of Poseidon is magnificent....the trident is nice too:

 

[Deinomenid]

3 hours ago, expat said:

So, apart from the small Wikipedia writeup, anything interesting about him or the issue type of the coin will be gladly read by me

That's a travesty of a Wiki article on one of the greatest but most unusual  rulers of Syracuse! It's hard to precis his achievements especially over such a long reign but here are a few.  I PUT THE COIN PART LAST 🙂 Hiero was a very different ruler to the previous  few.

"Hiero was not simply a further extension of the Syracusan trend; he was a different kind of ruler in important respects. For one thing, he soon abandoned all military adventures and any idea of extending his realm, which at its maximum embraced the eastern sector of Sicily from Tauromenium (later lost to him) down to Noto, but devoted himself to its management and his own enrichment. His interests in the Greek world were fundamentally different from the power politics of his predecessors; hence his two daughters were married to Syracusan aristocrats, not to foreign rulers.....The alliance [with Rome, after dallying elsewhere] was one of the most long-lived of the period. Hiero remained faithful to Rome until his death forty-eight years later, helping her on a large scale with corn and other supplies. Syracuse and its dependent states thus escaped the horrors of the First Punic War and of the early years of the Second, and Hiero personally escaped the usual threats and conspiracies. Henceforth the history of ancient Sicily is part of Roman history, with the most profound effects not only on Sicilian politics but also on its economy and civilization.- Finlay

He  took over a (yet-again!) war-torn region, as  this poem from Theokritos shows - c270BC.

His reign being towards the end of Greek freedom on the island means so much of what he achieved is either contorted or distorted through the eye of the barbarians, though one episode sees through this in a staggering achievement to show the extent of  his power, wealth and ability - the building of the giant ship Syracusia. Athenaeus describes it at length here

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Athenaeus/5C*.html

A small extract to show  its staggering scale -

Now the ship was constructed to hold twenty banks of rowers, with three gangways. the lowest gangway which it contained led to cargo, the descent to which was afforded by companion-ways of solid construction; the second was designed for the use of those who wished to enter the cabins; after this came the third and last, which was for men posted under arms. Belonging to the middle gangway were cabins for men ranged on each side of the ship, large enough for four couches, and numbering thirty. The officers' cabin could hold fifteen couches and contained three apartments of the size of three couches; that toward the stern was the cooks' galley. All these rooms had a tessellated flooring made of a variety of stones, in the pattern of which was wonderfully wrought the entire story of the Iliad; also in the furniture, the ceiling, and the doors all  these themes were artfully represented. On the level of the uppermost gangway there were a gymnasium and promenades built on a scale proportionate to the size of the ship; in these were garden-beds of every sort, luxuriant with plants of marvelous growth, and watered by lead tiles hidden from sight; then there were bowers of white ivy and grape-vines, the roots of which got their nourishment in casks filled with earth, and receiving the same irrigation as the garden-beds. These bowers shaded the promenades. Built next to these was a shrine of Aphrodite large enough to contain three couches, with a floor made of agate and other stones, the most beautiful kinds found in the island; it had walls and ceiling of Cyprus-wood, and doors of ivory and fragrant cedar; it was also most lavishly furnished with paintings and statues and drinking-vessels of every shape.

"Adjoining the Aphrodite room was a library large enough for five couches, the walls and doors of which were made of boxwood; it contained a collection of books, and on the ceiling was a concave dial made in imitation of the sun-dial on Achradina. There was also a bathroom, of three-couch size, with three bronze tubs and a wash-stand of variegated Tauromenian marble, having a capacity of fifty gallons. There were also several rooms built for the marines and those who manned the pumps. But beside these there were ten stalls for horses on each side of the ship; and next them was the storage-place for the horses' food, and the belongings of the riders and their slaves.  There was also a water-tank at the bow, which was kept covered and had a capacity of twenty thousand gallons

On coinage, he was  highly  unusual  in that  his wife Philistis features on many coins as does  his then-living son, Gelon II, who predeceased him. It's also a controversial and quite complex series of  issues of gold, silver and bronze, to finance wars against the Mamertines, Carthage, & Rome and apparently a deal of elite  benefaction  - "euergetism" coinage. These 3 types were all minted  during his reign -

Hieron -

 

 

Philiistis

Gelon II

For the  bronzes, and where they fit in terms of relative production,  this  might be of interest, from Puglisi -

Lastly, lots of  fakes of this period are around at the moment, so here's a nice Philistis make-your-own-coin die!

Edited December 8, 2024 by Deinomenid
removal of annotations

[Sulla80]

Why am I posting coins of Ptolemy II in a thread about Hieron II?  

Well, the second coin shown here (the Ptolemy AE) was minted by Hieron II.  Lorber and Wolf provide some explanation for why Hieron in Sicily would have minted coins in the name of Ptolemy II from Egypt.  Some time after Pyrrhus left Sicily for Italy in 275, Hieron was leading Greek armies in Sicily, and could have received support from Ptolemy II, or perhaps just minted Ptolemaic coins to pay troops in a currency that they would trust and respect.    See more here: https://www.sullacoins.com/post/galatians-in-egypt

and here's another Hieron Poseidon for the collection:

Edited December 8, 2024 by Sulla80

[-monolith-]

Here is one from my collection:

[ominus1]

...Heron ll is one i've bid on many times but never enough to win....yet  :D...very nice addition @expat 🙂

[Qcumbor]

Below are ugly (very much so) pictures (need a reshot) of otherwise nice coins of Hieron II

Q

[mcwyler]

No @QcumborTHIS is ugly