| Harlan J. Berk, Ltd. > Buy or Bid Sale 226 | Auction date: 13 February 2024 |
| Lot number: 296 Price realized: Unsold | |
| Lot description: Sicily, Hieronymos 10 Litra. ; Sicily, Hieronymos 10 Litra; 215-214 BC. 10 Litra, 8.38g. SNG ANS-1028. Obv: Head of king l. Rx: Winged thunderbolt, KI above. The lack of sideburns on this portrait of Hieronymos indicates it was struck before he made the fatal error of aligning himself with Hannibal.. EF Estimate: 4250 USD |  |
Match 1:
| Roma Numismatics Ltd > Auction XXX | Auction date: 21 March 2024 |
| Lot number: 75 Price realized: 1,500 GBP (Approx. 1,900 USD / 1,749 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Sicily, Syracuse AR 10 Litrai. Time of Hieronymos, circa 215-214 BC. Diademed head to left; K (retrograde) behind / BAΣIΛEOΣ IEPΩNYMOY, winged thunderbolt; KI above. Holloway 41 (O21/R33); SNG ANS 1029 (these dies); HGC 2, 1567. 8.18g, 23mm, 3h. Good Extremely Fine; light cleaning marks, beautiful cabinet tone with iridescent highlights. Ex Münzhandlung Basel, Auction 10, 15 March 1938, lot 144. Hieronymos ascended to the throne of Syracuse at a time of crisis. A Roman consular army of eight legions and allied troops had been annihilated at Cannae only the year before, and Roman power had been dealt a considerable shock. The repercussions of that defeat had been profoundly felt in Sicily; the former king Hieron II had remained steadfast in his loyalty and support to Rome though a significant party in the city favoured abandoning the Roman alliance and joining the cause of Carthage, despite their traditional enmity to that people. The young Hieronymos, who had already shown signs of weakness and depravity of character, allowed himself to be influenced by his pro-Carthaginian uncles into breaking the alliance with Rome, a decision that would have disastrous consequences for Syracuse. Estimate: 2500 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Leu Numismatik AG > Auction 15 | Auction date: 1 June 2024 |
| Lot number: 27 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | |
| Lot description: SICILY. Syracuse. Hieronymos, 215-214 BC. 10 Litrai (Silver, 23 mm, 8.43 g, 5 h). Diademed head of Hieronymos to left; in field to right, K. Rev. BAΣIΛEΩΣ - IEPΩNYMOY Winged thunderbolt; above, KI. Holloway 41m (this coin, O21/R33). SNG ANS 1029-30 (same dies). Beautifully toned and with an impressive pedigree. A few faint scratches and minor marks, otherwise, extremely fine. Ex Roma II, 2 October 2011, 132 (deposits removed from the reverse since), from the Q. David Bowers Collection, Stack's, 10 January 2011, 44, ex Classical Numismatic Group 76, 12 September 2007, 181, Classical Numismatic Group 45, 18 March 1998, 141 and Stack's, 3 December 1996, 481, from the Polese Collection, Canessa 5, 12 June 1928, 670 and from the collection of the Duke of Caianiello, Sambon & Canessa, 27 June 1927, 1046. Estimate: 2000 CHF |  |
Match 3:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 146 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 2121 Price realized: To Be Posted | |
| Lot description: Syracuse. 24 litrae circa 214-214, AR 30 mm, 20.25 g. Diademed head l.; in r. field, cornucopiae. Rev. BAΣIΛEOΣ – ΙΕΡΩΝYMOY Winged thunderbolt. Jameson 887 (this coin). Holloway 3b (this coin, erroneously illustrated as 3a in the plates). AMB 537 (this coin). Of the highest rarity, very few specimens known and possibly the only one in private hands. An issue of tremendous importance and fascination with a delicate portrait of fine Hellenistic style and a lovely old cabinet tone. Traces of overstriking and minor marks, otherwise good very fine / about extremely fine Ex Sotheby's 1886, Montagu, 181; Sotheby's 3 February 1909, Benson, 393; NAC 13, 1998, formerly exhibited at the Antikenmuseum Basel, 537 and Heritage 3089, 2021, 31013 sales. From the Jameson, Wigan, Athos and Dina Moretti and Penn collections. Hieronymous of Syracuse was the grandson of Hieron II, and ascended to the throne of Syracuse when he was just fifteen years old, in 215 BC. While Hieron II had maintained good relations with both Rome and Carthage, the two superpowers were in the midst of the Second Punic War, and Rome had just recently suffered its greatest defeat by the forces of Hannibal at the Battle of Cannae. This convinced Hieronymous to renounce Syracuse's friendship with Rome in favor of an alliance with Carthage, with disastrous consequences for both Hieronymous and Syracuse. The Romans rebounded from their defeat at Cannae much more quickly than Hieronymous could ever have predicted, and sent troops under Marcellus to chastise the Syracusans. Before the forces of either side ever engaged, however, Hieronymous was assassinated in in the streets of Leontini by a group of his fellow citizens led by his bodyguard, Deiomenes. He had reigned for just thirteen months. Syracuse while still hostile towards Rome, for the time being renounced its tyrants and instituted a democracy. History has not been kind to Hieronymous, perhaps because the sources are Roman. He is painted as a childish tyrant, susceptible to seduction from corrupting influences, of poor temperament and prone to the vilest excesses. Of course, this portrayal may be merely propaganda and inaccurate: the writer Polybius was inclined to doubt the Roman authors on the topic. For having only reined a short time, Hieronymous issued an extensive series of coinage in all metals. The reverses of all denominations feature a winged thunderbolt with an accompanying Doric legend naming Hieronymous as king. While the gold coins all feature the head of the goddess Persephone on the obverse, customary by this time for Syracusan gold coins for nearly a century, the silver and bronze coins feature the diademed head of Hieronymous himself. The silver was struck in three denominations, based on the litra standard, in multiples of 5, 10, and 24 litrai. This coin, the largest silver denomination of Hieronymous, is the rarest by far, being one of just a few known examples and likely the only specimen held privately, making it a astoundingly unique opportunity for the astute buyer. However, not only is it of the highest rarity, it also features an incredibly fine and attractive portrait of Hieronymous, all of which is amplified by beautiful old toning. Estimate: 50000 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > NYINC Signature Sale 3113 | Auction date: 8 January 2024 |
| Lot number: 30061 Price realized: 6,500 USD (Approx. 5,925 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Diodotus I/II, as Satrap (ca. 255-235 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.25 gm, 6h). NGC Choice AU 5/5 - 3/5, Fine Style, light marks. In the name of Antiochus II, First Diodotid Mint (Holt and Kritt's "Mint A"), probably Ai Khanoum (or nearby), ca. 255-246 BC. Diademed head of Diodotus I right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ, Zeus advancing left, nude, seen from behind, brandishing thunderbolt in raised right hand, aegis draped over outstretched left arm; N above eagle standing left in inner left field. SC 629.1. ESM 713. Kovalenko Series VIII, 55. Particularly nice, with excellent centering, and devoid of the test cut found on many examples of this issue. Struck from high-relief, fresh dies of lovely style on a satiny flan. From the Wetmore Collection of Gold and Electrum. Ex Triton VII (12 January 2004), lot 684. Until about 2001, only one indisputably genuine satrapal gold stater of Diodotus I was known to exist. Recently, more have come to light, most of them marred by test cuts. The present specimen is free of test cuts or any other defects on the faces, making it both rare and highly desirable. As these pieces demonstrate, the tradition of excellence in Bactrian coin portraiture started with the very first reign. The confusion around the reign of Diodotus I, including his coinage, mirrors a greater lack of understanding of the events of central Asia during the middle decades of the 3rd century BC. The Seleucid king Antiochus II, in whose name this coin was minted, was primarily concerned with his possessions in the Levant and Asia Minor, and he neglected the eastern satrapies - Parthia, Aria, Bactria, etc. His death in 246 BC triggered the Third Syrian War, in which the Seleucids suffered a massive defeat to Ptolemaic Egypt, losing Palestine and many thousands of men. The war meant that Seleucid armies were occupied with western affairs for five years, and ambitious Greek satraps in the East saw their chance to throw off Seleucid domination. The Parthian satrap Andragoras revolted against the Seleucids in 246 BC, minting his own coinage with his name and governing independently until he himself was killed and his territory conquered by the Parni, who later conquered all of Seleucid Persia as "the Parthians." The chronology of Diodotus is more complicated and the facts are murkier. While Andragoras certainly intended his revolt to mean complete independence from the start, Diodotus likely fashioned himself early on as a kind of semi-independent governor that nevertheless was still in the Seleucid sphere. He was probably appointed satrap of Bactria in the mid-250s BC, and due to the far-flung nature of his province, was able to exert a certain level of independence, which included striking coins such as this piece with his own portrait but the name of Antiochus. It is likely, but not certain, that like Andragoras, Diodotus used the utter Seleucid defeat in Syria and Palestine to assert full independence, and perhaps the outbreak of the war with the Ptolemies was the moment that Diodotus' coinage abandoned the name of the now-dead Seleucid king Antiochus II in favor of his own. Thus, though the period provides uncertainty, this issue was likely struck while Diodotus was satrap but before the Third Syrian War, since it does not bear his name, placing this coin ca. 255-246 BC. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-diodotus-i-ii-as-satrap-ca-255-235-bc-av-stater-18mm-825-gm-6h-ngc-choice-au-5-/a/3113-30061.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3113-01082024 HID02906262019 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved Estimate: 8000-10000 USD |  |
Match 5:
| Heritage World Coin Auctions > CSNS Signature Sale 3115 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 32189 Price realized: To Be Posted | |
| Lot description: Ancients BACTRIAN KINGDOM. Diodotus I Soter, as Satrap (ca. 255-235 BC). AV stater (18mm, 8.36 gm, 6h). NGC AU 4/5 - 1/5, test cut, marks, edge bend. Mint A, probably Ai Khanoum (or nearby), in the name of Antiochus II, ca. 255-246 BC. Diademed head of Diodotus I right / ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ / ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ, Zeus, nude, striding left, seen from behind, brandishing thunderbolt with right hand, aegis over outstretched left arm; eagle with raised wings standing left to left of feet, wreath in inner left field. Bopearachchi 1A. SC 629.2. A handsome and historically intriguing type. The confusion around the reign of Diodotus I, including his coinage, mirrors a greater lack of understanding of the events of central Asia during the middle decades of the 3rd century BC. The Seleucid king Antiochus II, in whose name this coin was minted, was primarily concerned with his possessions in the Levant and Asia Minor, and he neglected the eastern satrapies - Parthia, Aria, Bactria, etc. His death in 246 BC triggered the Third Syrian War, in which the Seleucids suffered a massive defeat to Ptolemaic Egypt, losing Palestine and many thousands of men. The war meant that Seleucid armies were occupied with western affairs for five years, and ambitious Greek satraps in the East saw their chance to throw off Seleucid domination. The Parthian satrap Andragoras revolted against the Seleucids in 246 BC, minting his own coinage with his name and governing independently until he himself was killed and his territory conquered by the Parni, who later conquered all of Seleucid Persia as "the Parthians." The chronology of Diodotus is more complicated and the facts are murkier. While Andragoras certainly intended his revolt to mean complete independence from the start, Diodotus likely fashioned himself early on as a kind of semi-independent governor that nevertheless was still in the Seleucid sphere. He was probably appointed satrap of Bactria in the mid-250s BC, and due to the far-flung nature of his province, was able to exert a certain level of independence, which included striking coins such as this piece with his own portrait but the name of Antiochus. It is likely, but not certain, that like Andragoras, Diodotus used the utter Seleucid defeat in Syria and Palestine to assert full independence, and perhaps the outbreak of the war with the Ptolemies was the moment that Diodotus' coinage abandoned the name of the now-dead Seleucid king Antiochus II in favor of his own. Thus, though the period provides uncertainty, this issue was likely struck while Diodotus was satrap but before the Third Syrian War, since it does not bear his name, placing this coin ca. 255-246 BC. https://coins.ha.com/itm/ancients/greek/ancients-bactrian-kingdom-diodotus-i-soter-as-satrap-ca-255-235-bc-av-stater-18mm-836-gm-6h-ngc-au-4-5-/a/3115-32189.s?type=DA-DMC-CoinArchives-WorldCoins-3115-05082024 HID02906262019 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved |  |
