(13) Leontinoi, Sicily (Italy) - AR tetradrachm, c. 440-430
B.C., 17.18 g. (inv. 91.026).
Obverse: Head of Apollo l., with hair hanging straight
and wearing an olive wreath with three rows of leaves.
Reverse: Lion's head l., surrounded by four grains of barley;
: of the Leontines.
Provenance: Bank Leu, 1985.
Bibliography: G. Rizzo, Monete greche della Sicilia,
2 vols. (Rome 1946), pl. 24.4; C.M. Kraay, Archaic and Classical Greek
Coins (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1976) 211-212.
The head of Leontinoi's patron god Apollo on the obverse and his symbol
the lion's head on the reverse indicate that this coin comes from the period
of Leontinoi's independence between 466 and 422 B.C. The barley grains surrounding
the lion's head refer to the agricultural prosperity of the town.
Although the obverse and reverse types of Leontinoi's coins remained constant
throughout this period, stylistic changes in the types permit more precise
dating. A comparison of this coin with a tetradrachm of c. 460 B.C. (see
no. 12) demonstrates that the facial features of
both the Apollo and the lion are more naturalistic and finer in detail,
indications of a date later in the Classical period, c. 440-430 B.C.
K.L.M.
All contents copyright (c) 1996.
Lawrence University
All rights reserved.