1/4 Stater - Agathocles

Agathocles seized power in Syracuse through a massacre of the oligarchic opposition in 317 BC, and his coinage consistently projected the image of a ruler with legitimate dynastic ambitions rather than a tyrant governing by force alone. This fractional gold issue falls within the years of his audacious invasion of Carthaginian territory in North Africa — a campaign launched in 310 BC specifically to relieve the Carthaginian siege of Syracuse by taking the war directly to the enemy's homeland. It was the first time a Greek army had landed on African soil in force.

Gold fractions of this type are genuinely scarce in the market. The HGC lists fewer than a handful of die combinations.