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Drachm - Gelon
| Issuer | Syracuse |
|---|---|
| Year | 275 BC - 215 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Litrai |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle standing to the left on a thunderbolt, its head turned back over its right shoulder in a heraldic pose, with wings folded tightly against the body and talons gripping the thunderbolt firmly. The bird is rendered with detailed feathering on the breast and wings. The Greek inscription ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΙ appears divided vertically on the left side of the field, ΓΕΛΩΝΟΣ on the right, and the letter Ε appears in the left centre field with ΒΑ below it, together reading as a royal epithet. The design is set within a plain border. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Struck well after Gelon II's death, this issue belongs to a Syracuse that had survived the first Punic War only to face Carthaginian pressure from the west and Roman pressure from the east simultaneously. The city minted prolifically in this period to fund military commitments under Hiero II, who maintained an uneasy neutrality that kept Syracuse wealthy and independent longer than any other Sicilian Greek city.
The Lockett reference places this among a well-documented but genuinely scarce die grouping. Lockett 1020 came from one of the most significant private collections of Greek Sicily assembled in the twentieth century.