SICILY, Messana. 420-413 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 17.16 g, 7h). Good VF.

Triton XXIX
Lot: 44. Estimated: $ 2 500

Greek, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 11 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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SICILY, Messana. 420-413 BC. AR Tetradrachm (27mm, 17.16 g, 7h). The nymph Messana, wearing long chiton, holding kentron in left hand and reins in both, driving slow biga of mules right; retrograde MEΣ-ΣANA counterclockwise around from right, two dolphins confronted in exergue / Hare springing right; below, dolphin right; MEΣ-Σ-A-N-IO-N around. Caltabiano Series XIV, 529.1 corr. (D209/R224 – this coin [incorrect inventory number]); HGC 2, 792; Rizzo pl. XXVI, 3 (same rev. die). Attractive old collection tone, slight die wear on obverse. Good VF.

Ex Johns Hopkins University Collection [inv. 44.5.101] (Part II, Bank Leu & Numismatic Fine Arts, 16 October 1984), lot 123; John Work Garrett Collection [inv. G 83], purchased from T. Elder, 23 February 1921.

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 Triton XXIX lots will be determined at the live public sale that will be held on 13-14 January 2026.

Triton XXIX – Session One – Lot 1-301 will be held Tuesday morning, 13 January 2026 beginning at 9:00 AM ET.

Winning bids are subject to a 22.5% buyer's fee for bids placed on this website and 25% for all others.

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