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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Akragas |
|---|---|
| Year | 410 BC - 406 BC |
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| Value | Tetradrachm (20) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A quadriga driven at full gallop to the left, the charioteer holding reins and kentron, rendered in fine high relief with exceptional detail. Above the horses, Nike flies rightward crowning the charioteer with a wreath. In the exergue, a horizontal ground line separates the main scene from a figure of a river god, depicted as a youthful male reclining amid aquatic emblems including a serpent. The engraver's signature MYP (for Myron) appears in the field below the ground line, attesting to the celebrated die-cutter's hand. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle with fully spread wings stands in three-quarter view, head turned sharply to the right, devouring a hare held beneath its talons. The raptor's plumage is rendered with meticulous detail, each flight feather individually delineated in high relief. The circular ethnic legend ΑΚΡΑΓΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ runs along the right and upper border of the field, reading partially around the eagle in characteristic Late Classical Sicilian style. |
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| Additional information |
The tetradrachms of Akragas from this narrow window represent the city's final artistic flourishing before its destruction by Carthage in 406 BC. Hannibal Mago's forces razed the city after an eight-month siege, and the population was evacuated — coin production ceased entirely. What survives was struck in a city already under existential threat, by engravers who had reached the peak of the Sicilian medallion style.
BMC 53 is attributable to the workshop responsible for some of the finest dies of the series. The siege began in 406 BC, making the latest pieces in this type struck within months of the city's end.