SICILY, Messana. 425-421 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 17.06 g, 7h). VF.

CNG Feature Auction 133
Lot: 73. Estimated: $ 2 000

Greek, Coin-in-Hand Video, Silver

Sold For $ 4 500. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

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SICILY, Messana. 425-421 BC. AR Tetradrachm (26mm, 17.06 g, 7h). Charioteer, holding kentron and reins, driving slow biga of mules right; above, Nike flying right crowning mules; olive leaf and berry in exergue / Hare springing right; below, dolphin right. Caltabiano Series XIII, 494 (D201/R202); HGC 2, 787; SNG Lloyd 1094 (same dies); Hermitage Sale II 294 (same dies). Old cabinet tone, edge marks. VF.

From Collection JLT, purchased from John Gomer, 14 May 1999. Ex Paul M. Proschowsky Collection (Bruun Rasmussen 245, 10 March 1970), lot 389.

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 Hippokrates 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 133 lots will be determined at the live online sale that will be held on 15-16 September 2026.

CNG Feature Auction 133 – Session One – Lot 1-308 will be held Tuesday morning, 15 September 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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