Freeman & Sear - F&S Mail Bid Sale #11
Lot: 26
KVA1292
      SICILY: Panormus. Ca. 440-420 BC. AR tetradrachm (17.27 
      gm). Fast quadriga left, above dolphin diving left, dog 
      left in exergue / Head of Arethusa right, hair in 
      sakkos, four dolphins around. Jenkins, SNR 50, p. 44, 
      fig. 4A. Extremely rare: only a single specimen known to 
      Jenkins. Lightly toned. Weakly struck in areas, 
      otherwise very fine
      The female head imitates a fairly common reverse type of 
      Syracusan tetradrachms (see Boehringer R441–R445, 
      R447–R452, and R468–R477). The obverse is based on a 
      slightly earlier Syracusan die, Boehringer V296, with an 
      exceptional design for its day, a quadriga in high 
      action, facing left. On this prototype die, the sea 
      serpent in the exergue is rather straight and flat, and 
      the Panormitan copyist reinterpreted it as a dog. More 
      imaginatively, he replaced the Nike flying above the 
      horses with a dolphin leaping through the sky, and 
      turned the head of the near horse to face the viewer. 
      This last detail is an innovation that did not begin to 
      appear on Syracusan dies until the signing artist period 
      (see Tudeer 30–34). 
      Estimated Value: $ 4,000 

Re-used by permission of Freeman and Sear, www.freemanandsear.com.