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SICILY, Messana. 420-413 BC. AR Tetradrachm (24mm, 17.21 g, 11h). The nymph Messana, holding kentron and reins, driving slow biga of mules right / Hare springing right; below, dolphin right. Caltabiano Series XIV, 517.19 (D206/R197; this coin cited); HGC 2, 792; SNG ANS 356 (same dies); SNG Copenhagen 399 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 1097 (same dies); Boston MFA 291 = Warren 260 (same dies); Hunterian 11 (same dies); Nantueil 300 (same dies). Old cabinet tone, underlying luster, traces of find patina. Good VF.
Purchased by the consignor from Brian Kritt, 17 March 2005.
In 493 BC, the city of Zankle invited a group of Samian refugees to settle in the region following Samos’ fall to the Persians. The Samians, at the behest of Anaxilas of Rhegion, chose instead to seize Zankle itself. After doing so, the Samians betrayed Anaxilas and allied themselves with Hippocrates of Gela. Anaxilas managed to suppress the Samians around 488 BC, seized Zankle, and resettled it with colonists from Peloponnesian Messenia. In honor of their loyalty, Anaxilas renamed the city Messana, after their homeland.
The standard coinage of Messana, as at Rhegion during Anaxilas’ reign, carried a biga of mules on the obverse and a hare on the reverse. The biga scene refers to the victory of Anaxilas’ mule cart at the Olympic games of 480 BC. The origin of the hare type is less certain, although it is thought that Anaxilas introduced the animal to Sicily. Though the types at Rhegion changed following Anaxilas’ death, the types at Messana continued to be used on all precious metal coinage for the remainder of the Classical period.
The final winners of all CNG Feature Auction 129 lots will be determined during the live online sale that will be held on 13-14 May 2025. This lot is in Session One, which will begin 13 May at 9 AM ET.
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