Dekadrachm - Agathokles

Agathokles struck this issue during one of the most audacious episodes in Sicilian history — his invasion of Carthaginian territory in North Africa, launched in 310 BC to relieve Syracuse from siege by redirecting the war onto enemy soil. By 306 BC, having fought his way to a negotiated peace, he proclaimed himself king of Sicily, the first ruler to hold that title on the island. The gold coinage of this period almost certainly funded mercenary forces and signaled royal legitimacy to a Greek world accustomed to Hellenistic dynasts issuing precious-metal coinage in their own right.