Silver Tetradrachm of Leontini (Leontinoi), Sicily, Italy, 17.18 g.

Silver Tetradrachm of Leontini (Leontinoi), Sicily, Italy, 17.18 g.

Leontini (Leontinoi), Sicily, Italy

c. 440-430 BCE

Obverse: Head of Apollo facing left, with hair hanging straight and wearing olive wreath with three rows of leaves.

Reverse: Lion's head facing left, surrounded by four grains of barley; ΛΕΟΝΤΙΝΟΝ: of the Leontines.

Style/Period: Greek (ancient)

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 BCE. 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 BCE (see 91.025) 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 BCE.
-- Kathleen L. Metzger Newmyer, LU '94

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.

Former collection of Ottilia Buerger. Bought from Bank Leu, 1985

91.026

Wriston Art Center Galleries, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI,wriston-gallery@lawrence.edu,920-832-6890

Greek, god, Apollo, wreath, leaves, lion, barley, grain, Leontini, Leontinoi, Sicily, Italy