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Coin Detail
Click here to see enlarged image.
ID:
840831
[UNVERIFIED]
Type:
Greek
Region:
BRUTTIUM
City:
Rhegium
Metal:
Bronze
Denomination:
AE17
Struck / Cast:
struck
Date Struck:
BC Circa 415/0-387
Diameter:
17 mm
Weight:
4.83 g
Die Axis:
3 h
Obverse Description:
Facing lion’s head
Reverse Legend:
PHΓINON
Reverse Description:
Laureate head of Apollo right; olive leaf to left, PHΓINON to right
Primary Reference:
Rutter, South, Group XIII
Reference2:
HN Italy 2526
Reference3:
SNG ANS 684
Photograph Credit:
Classical Numismatic Group
Source:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=138540
Grade:
Superb EF, attractive malachite green patina.
Notes:
Ex Hess-Divo 307 (8 June 2007), lot 1036; Munzen und Medaillen AG 79 (1994), lot 85; Tom Virzi Collection (Leu 6, 8 May 1973), lot 43.Rhegion (mod. Reggio Calabria), a Chalkidian colony established in the eighth century BC, was among the earliest Greek settlements in southern Italy. Situated on a harbor at the mouth of the river Apsias at the tip of Italy along the Sicilian Strait opposite Zankle (Messana), the city was perfectly located to facilitate trade with the Greek cities in Sicily. Very little is known of its early history. The poet Ibykos was born there in the sixth century BC, and the city was ruled by an oligarchy until 494 BC, when Anaxilas became tyrant. During his rule, Rhegion seized Zankle from the Samians in 488 BC, renaming it Messana. Rhegion also sided with the Carthaginians in their war against Syracuse circa 480 BC. After the death of Anaxilas, control of Rhegion passed to his sons, until they were ousted from the city in 461 BC. In 433 BC, the city allied with Athens, providing the latter with a base in 427 BC, but it did not assist Athens during the disastrous Sicilian Expedition in 415 BC. Regardless, Rhegion pursued an anti-Syracusan policy thereafter, resulting in the sacking of the city by the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios I in 387 BC. In 358 BC, Rhegion was rebuilt under the name Phoibeia, and later supported Timoleon during his successful bid to wrest control of Syracuse from Dionysios II and Hiketas. Rhegion first came into the Roman sphere of influence in 280 BC, when the Rhegians asked for a Roman garrison to help resist Pyrrhos' attempts to take the city. Rhegion became a civitas foederata of Rome in 270 BC, and was a steadfast ally of Rome during the Second Punic War. In 90/89 BC, the city finally became a Roman municipium.The coinage of Rhegion began around 510 BC, with an issue of drachms of incuse type. This coinage was apparently quite limited, and regular coinage did not commence until the time of Anaxilas, when a double-relief series was initiated. His first issue, featuring a facing lion's head on the obverse and left facing calf's head on the reverse, began either upon his assumption of the tyranny, or, more likely, upon his capture of Zankle. After an Olympic victory circa 480 BC, Anaxilas introduced a new coinage at both cities, with a biga on the obverse and running hare on the reverse. This coinage continued during the reign of Anaxilas' sons, but was abandoned upon their ouster.In 450 BC, a new coinage was established that revived the facing lion's head obverse, but with a new reverse featuring a figure seated left within a laurel wreath border. The seated figure type was replaced with the head of Apollo circa 420 BC. The earliest dies of the Apollo type are signed by an artist, Kratesippos, but his work was soon outshone by an unknown artist whom Herzfelder identified as 'the Master of the Rhegium Apollo.' Both artists' representations of Apollo, however, are thought to have a common prototype, the youthful Apollo depicted on coins of Katane by the master whom Rizzo called 'Maestro della foglia' (Master of the Leaf). This lion head / Apollo type continued into the fourth century BC, but around 356 BC, the types switched from obverse to reverse and vice-versa, and eventually ceased production around 350 BC. Thereafter, the only silver issue was a limited run of Corinthian type staters in the later fourth century, after which time the precious metal issues ended, while the bronze remained in production until the mid-second century. The bronze coinage, as well as the silver fractions, typically mimiced the types of the large silver, or used associated imagery, such as various symbols representing Dionysos or Apollo.
Created and Managed by Alfredo De La Fe
