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THE FACING HEAD COINS OF: SICILY, SYRACUSE |
The earliest facing head to appear on Syracusan coinage was a bust of Athena Parthenos in a triple-crested helmet, signed by the engraver Eukleidas. Eukleidas cut two tetradrachm reverse dies of this type, which were paired with the standard quadriga obverse. In addition, an unsigned miniature of the facing Athena Parthenos served as the obverse type of drachms whose reverse shows the hero Leucaspis defending an altar.
The most famous of all facing heads on coinage is Kimon’s depiction of the fountain nymph Arethusa, her hair floating in the water, surrounded by dolphins. This type appears on the obverse of Syracusan tetradrachms, while the normal obverse type, the quadriga, has been relegated to the reverse. Kimon created two obverse dies for this issue, signing each on Arethusa’s ampyx (headband), and also two reverse dies, one signed on the exergual line. Kimon’s facing head of Arethusa arguably represents the pinnacle of Greek coin art. It is feminine beauty personified, with an ethereal and transcendent quality that has never since been replicated in coins. Its influence on the design of facing head coins from other regions was extensive. One of the most surprising adaptations occurred in Lycia, where the bearded male dynast Perikles was portrayed in the manner of Arethusa and even associated with a dolphin on one die, making the derivation perfectly clear. Kimon’s facing head of Arethusa was especially relevant at Larissa, whose coinage also honored a local fountain nymph. The Syracusan prototype surely inspired at least some of Larissa’s facing heads, in particular those showing dolphins beside the nymph’s head. Early studies of Larissa’s coinage assumed a close dependence on Kimon, so that the varieties that most resembled his Arethusa were considered to be the earliest, and the series was assumed to embody a process of degeneration, of falling away from the model. Hoard evidence, however, has revealed that the evolution proceeded in the opposite direction, beginning with original local conceptions and ending with closer approximations to Kimon’s Arethusa.
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c. 405-400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Leu Numismatik AG, Auction 81, May 16th, 2001, Lot number: 108. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 13 October 1998 no. 464. Ex Antikenmuseum Basel und Sammlung Ludwig no. 464. Source of Image: T. J. Buggey website. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Source of Image: ANS Database. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Drachm. The New York Sale VII, 15 January 2004, Lot number: 16. The New York Sale IV, 17 January 2002, Lot number: 79. From the Frederick M. Bayer collection. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Drachm. Münzen & Medaillen Deutschland GmbH, Auction 11, 7 November 2002, Lot number: 537. Ex Auktion Leu & Co. AG, Zürich - Adolph Hess AG, Luzern 24.3.1959, 94. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 29, 11 May 2005, Lot number: 122. Ex Hess-Leu 2, 1958, 90 and CNG-NAC sale 40, 1996. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Numismatica Ars Classica, Auction 27, 12 May 2004, Lot number: 118. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Decadrachm. Image Source: moneymuseum.com (Mildenberg's "Dream Collection"). |
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c. 405–-400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Sotheby's, Auction Zurich October 1993 no. 12. Source of Image: Magna Graecia Coins Web Site. |
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c. 405–400 BC. AR Tetradrachm. Numismatica Ars Classica AG, Auction 13 October 1998 no. 473. Source of Image: Magna Graecia Coins Web Site. |
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