Tetradrachm - Dionysius I

These tetradrachms were struck at a pivotal moment for Syracuse — Dionysius I had just seized power in 405 BC, partly by exploiting the catastrophic Athenian defeat of 413 BC and the subsequent political chaos that left the city vulnerable to both Carthaginian invasion and internal coup. The coins were produced while Carthage was actively besieging and destroying other Sicilian Greek cities, including Akragas and Gela, making Syracuse's mint output in this period as much a statement of institutional continuity as anything else.

The engravers responsible for Syracuse's finest fifth-century dies — including Kimon and Euainetos — were active in exactly this window, and signed dies attributable to this period appear in the major collections cited.