Decadrachm - Dionysius I

These decadrachms were almost certainly struck to pay Dionysius I's mercenary forces — Campanian, Iberian, and Greek soldiers who demanded hard coin and would accept nothing less. Dionysius was fighting a grinding series of wars against Carthage through much of this period, and large-denomination silver served the dual purpose of military payroll and political display. The dies were cut by the finest engravers of the ancient world, several of whom signed their work, a practice almost without parallel in Greek coinage.

The signed dies of Euainetos are the most celebrated among collectors, distinguishable from other hands in the series.