SICILY. Eryx. Circa 425-420 BC. Obol (Silver, 11 mm, 0.85 g, 9 h). Facing archaic head of Aphrodite. Rev. [ER]YKINON The river-god Krimisos, in the form of a hunting dog, standing right, head turned back to left. Jameson 570. Rizzo pl. LXIV, 7. SNG ANS 1342-1343. Very rare. A darkly toned example of this very interesting issue. Good very fine.


The old Elymian city of Eryx lay on the eponymous mountain, which reaches 840 m above sea level and dominates western Sicily. In the 6th and 5th century, Eryx was usually controlled by Segesta and famous for the sacred temple prostitution practiced in the local sanctuary, whose goddess was identified by the Greeks with Aphrodite and whose archaic portrait we see on this coin.