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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Naxos (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 460 BC |
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| Reference(s) | Cahn Nax#54, SNG ANS 4#515, SNG Lloyd#1150, Kraay&Hirm#6, AMB Basel#384, HGC 2#983, SNG Fitzwilliam#1108, SNG Lockett#840 |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Nude, ithyphallic Silenos squatting facing, his head turned to the left, holding a kantharos aloft in his raised right hand while his left arm rests on the ground for support. The figure is rendered with robust naturalism in the early Classical manner. The ethnic legend ΝΑΧΙΟΝ appears in the field, divided around the figure. |
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| Reverse lettering | Ν-ΑΧΙ-ΟΝ |
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| Additional information |
Naxos was the oldest Greek colony in Sicily, founded by Chalcidians from Euboea around 734 BC, and its coinage reflects a city already past its political peak by the time this tetradrachm was struck. The polis had been razed by Gelon of Syracuse in 476 BC and its population redistributed to Leontinoi. That the mint resumed operations at all within roughly fifteen years of total destruction is remarkable, and explains why the series is as abbreviated as it is dense with scholarly references.
The dies are attributed to one of the most accomplished engravers working in fifth-century Sicily — a hand whose identity remains unresolved but whose style overlaps with work at Katane.