Nomos 25

SICILY, Siculo-Punic. Uncertain military mint. Circa 320-310 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 17.37 g, 12 h). Uncertain female head to right (Dido or, more probably, Tanit), wearing a Phrygian cap with stiff, radiating pleats and a helmet-like visor, and a simple earring. Rev. S’MMHNT (= people of the camp) Lion walking to right, head facing front; behind, date palm. De Hirsch 832-3 (same dies). De Luynes 1472 (same dies). Jenkins 272 (O85/R226). Rizzo, pl. LXVI, 8 (same dies). Extremely rare, toned and impressive. Good very fine.

From the Morcote Collection, formed prior to 2005.

The head on the obverse of this coin is made even more extraordinary by the unusual and elaborate headdress the goddess wears. It is basically a Phrygian cap, with heavy folds or pleats, which almost suggests a kind of parade helmet, like those worn during the Renaissance some fifteen-hundred years later! Nevertheless, this headdress was surely made out of some rich fabric - but there is no parallel for it anywhere else on Greek coinage. The engraver responsible for this obverse die must have been one of the most advanced of his day; as for the reverse, it too is very powerful but the lion's facing head certainly gives him a rather wild look!