| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 98 | Auction date: 12 October 2025 |
| Lot number: 205 Price realized: 140 GBP (Approx. 186 USD / 161 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Greek Sicily, Syracuse Drachm circa 380-360, Æ 27 mm 30.74 g. [ΣYPA] Head of Athena l., wearing Corinthian helmet with bowl ornamented with olive wreath. Rev. Pair of dolphins swimming downwards almost snout to snout, between them star with eight rays. AMB 494. SNG ANS 455. C. Boehringer, Dyonisos von Syrakus, Essay Thompson, pl. 39, 44. Calciati 62. Dark green patina and very fine Ex CNG sale 251, 2011, 2. Starting price: 60 GBP |  |
Match 1:
| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 98 | Auction date: 12 October 2025 |
| Lot number: 206 Price realized: 550 GBP (Approx. 732 USD / 632 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Greek Sicily, Syracuse Litra circa 375-345, Æ 20 mm, 7.42 g. ΣYPA Head of Athena l., wearing Corinthian helmet decorated with wreath. Rev. Bridled hippocamp swimming l. SNG ANS 426. Calciati 34. Green patina heavily tooled, otherwise very fine Ex Gorny & Mosch sale 196, 2011, 1227. Starting price: 50 GBP |  |
Match 2:
| Naville Numismatics Ltd. > Auction 98 | Auction date: 12 October 2025 |
| Lot number: 544 Price realized: 600 GBP (Approx. 798 USD / 689 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Greek Attica, Athens Drachm circa 450-430, AR 15 mm, 4.23 g. Head of Athena r., wearing crested Athenian helmet and disc earring; bowl ornamented with spiral and three olive leaves. Rev. AΘE Owl, with closed wings, standing r. with head facing; in upper l. field, olive twig with three leaves; all within partially incuse square. Svoronos pl. XIII. SNG Copenhagen 41. Of excellent style and with an old cabinet tone. Extremely fine Ex Hirsch 272, 2011, 265 and NAC Summer 2025, 457 sales. Starting price: 200 GBP |  |
Match 3:
| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 158 | Auction date: 5 November 2025 |
| Lot number: 108 Price realized: 70,000 CHF (Approx. 86,505 USD / 75,277 EUR) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: Argolis, Argos Stater circa 370-350, AR 26 mm, 11.99 g. Head of Hera r., wearing polos ornamented with five palmettes and single-pendant earring. Rev. ARΓEI-ON Two dolphins, one above the other, swimming in counterclockwise circle; in centre, Corinthian helmet r. between E – M. BCD Peloponnesos 1066 (this coin). JGC 5, 656. SNG Copenhagen –. BMC –. Traité III 617 = A. Löbbecke, Griechische Münzen aus meiner Sammlung IV in ZfN 17 (1890), p. 6 and pl. I, 8 (these dies). Extremely rare the second specimen known with this symbol and the only one in private hands. Wonderful old cabinet tone, minor traces of double striking on reverse, otherwise good very fine Ex M&M X, 1951, 282; Leu 7, 1973, 184; LHS 96, 2006, BCD, 1066; Nomos 2, 2010, 92; Nomos 7, 2013, 112 and CNG 94, 2013, 387 sales. From the Clearwater collection. Among the many fabled cities of Greece, Argos claimed to be one of the oldest. Indeed, Homer calls the Greeks 'Argives' in the Iliad, and we may consider this the root for the name Argonaut. During the Bronze Age the territory of Argos incorporated other famous and powerful cities, such as Mycenae and Tiryns, and Argos was still renowned in the 490s B.C. when it began to strike coins. Its first issues were silver drachms and fractions that showed a wolf, symbolic of Apollo Lykios, who was worshipped in the city. The largest Argive coin of this early period, the drachm, shows a wolf in full, whereas triobols show its forepart, and obols show only its head – thus we have a compression of design that co-ordinates with the decrease in denomination. Hemiobols bore the archaic letter heta, and tetartemoria the letter tau. With a few design modernisations and an occasional new type, this system remained intact for perhaps 120 years. In about 370 – soon after the Battle of Leuctra, which reduced Spartan and Theban influence in the Peloponnesus – Argos began to strike larger denomination coins with fresh designs of high artistry. The period c.370-350 represents the artistic peak for the mint at Argos, with several numismatic masterpieces being created. Argos was famous for its sculptors (including Myron, Polycleitus and Phidias' master, Ageladas), and we may presume the mint was able to draw upon a thriving arts community. The two main issues from this period are staters and drachms. Both show on their obverse the head of Zeus' wife Hera, who wears a stephane decorated with palmettes. About six miles outside the city was the Heraeum, where this goddess is said to have been worshipped for thirteen generations before King Agamemnon ruled over Bronze Age Mycenae. Her original temple burned in 423, so the Hera bust on these coins must be based upon the renowned 26-foot statue by Polycleitus which was adorned with gold and ivory. The Hera staters show on their reverse two dolphins swimming in opposite directions, creating a circular pattern. The Hera drachms show Diomedes, the Argive king of Homer's Iliad, advancing cautiously with sword drawn as he brings the Palladium to his city. The dolphins may be a cunning allusion to the Delphic Apollo, who was worshipped at Argos, but perhaps even more likely they reflect the worship of Poseidon based upon two mythological episodes that were etched into the Argive consciousness. In one instance the local river-god Inachus was among those forced by Hera and Poseidon to choose between them for possession of the land; when he chose Hera, Poseidon withdrew the waters. Consequently, as it was explained, the rivers carried water only after a heavy rain. In another episode, Poseidon is said to have created the Springs of Lerna a few miles south of Argos. Apparently, Hera had convinced Poseidon to send back the sea, and the grateful Argives erected a sanctuary to Poseidon Prosclystius ('the flooder') at the point where the tide ebbed. Estimate: 35000 CHF |  |
Match 4:
| Numismatik Naumann (formerly Gitbud & Naumann) > Auction 155 | Auction date: 3 August 2025 |
| Lot number: 69 Price realized: 350 EUR (Approx. 404 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I (405-367 BC). Ae Drachm. Obv: ΣYPA. Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet with bowl decorated with wreath. Rev: Sea-star between two dolphins. CNS 62; SNG ANS 454ff.; HGC 2, 1436. Condition: Good fine. Weight: 31.07 g. Diameter: 29 mm. Estimate: 50 EUR |  |
Match 5:
| Numismatik Naumann (formerly Gitbud & Naumann) > Auction 156 | Auction date: 7 September 2025 |
| Lot number: 20 Price realized: 180 EUR (Approx. 211 USD) Note: Prices do not include buyer's fees. | |
| Lot description: SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I (405-367 BC). Ae Drachm. Obv: ΣYPA. Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet with bowl decorated with wreath. Rev: Sea-star between two dolphins. CNS 62; SNG ANS 454ff.; HGC 2, 1436. Condition: Near very fine. Weight: 31.02 g. Diameter: 30 mm. Estimate: 100 EUR |  |
