Dekadrachm - Hicetas II

Hicetas II seized power in Syracuse around 288 BC after the collapse of Agathocles' dynasty, ruling as tyrant during one of the most turbulent periods in the city's history — squeezed between Carthaginian pressure from the west and the ambitions of Pyrrhus of Epirus, who arrived in Sicily in 278 BC explicitly to drive out the Carthaginians. This issue dates to the final months of Hicetas' rule; Pyrrhus' arrival effectively ended his authority, and he was executed around 276 BC.

The gold fabric is notable — Syracuse's coinage in precious metal was intermittent and politically charged, typically reserved for exceptional military or diplomatic circumstances rather than routine treasury operations.