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  [Image]                               Item Sold At Auction #7
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                  Web Product ID: 1321
                  Estimate: $1,000.00
                  Final Sale Price: $759.00
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                  Denomination: Tetradrachm
                  Grade: VF broad flan
                  Reference: SNG ANS 245




  Sicily, Leontini. Circa 455-430 BC. AR Tetradrachm (16.01 gm). Laureate head of
  Apollo right / LEONTINON, head of roaring lion right, surrounded by four barley
  grains. SNG ANS 245 (same obverse die). VF, broad flan, minor porosity in spots.
  Estimate $1,000.



  Leontini was founded in 729 BC by settlers from Naxos, the first Greek colony in
  Sicily, which itself had been established just a few years earlier. In the first
  decade of the 5th century the city was captured by the tyrant Hippocrates of Gela
  whose successor, Gelon, transferred his seat of government to Syracuse in 485.
  Thereafter, Leontini usually remained within the Syracusan sphere of influence though
  its 5th century coinage was on a considerable scale attesting to the independent
  wealth of the community. A major political change took place in the late 460s — the
  expulsion of the tyrants and the restoration of democracy. This was reflected on the
  Leontine coinage by the introduction of new types featuring the head of Apollo on
  obverse and a lion's head on reverse. This attractive tetradrachm was probably struck
  about two decades after the initial introduction of the type. Apollo was especially
  revered at Leontini, as he was at the mother city of Naxos where there was a famous
  sanctuary of Apollo Archegetes. The lion was the emblem of Apollo but probably also
  represents a punning allusion to the city name. The surrounding barley-grains are
  indicative of the exceptional fertility of the Leontine territory and doubtless refer
  to the local worship of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture.


Used by permission of CNG, www.historicalcoins.com