SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I, 405-367 BC. 50 Litrai or Dekadrachm (Gold, 12 mm, 2.90 g, 5 h), circa 400-370. ΣYPA Youthful head of the river-god Anapos (?) to left; to right, barley grain. Rev. Horse prancing right above exergual band inscribed [Σ]YPAKOΣIΩ[N]. Bérend 10 (D4bis/R4). Boston MFA 436 (same dies). De Luynes 1239 (same dies). HGC 2, 1281. Jameson 1918 (same dies). SNG ANS 347 (same dies). Lustrous and fresh, struck in very high relief, and surely one of the finest known examples. A wonderful piece with an exceptionally beautiful head of Anapos (?). Light scratches and with a tiny die break on the obverse and the ususal die break on the reverse, otherwise, virtually as struck.


It has been suggested that the youthful male head on the obverse of the 50 litrai of Dionysios I may represent the river-god Anapos and allude to the Carthaginian siege of Syracuse in 397/396 BC, during which the besiegers, encamped in the marshy bed of the Anapos, were struck by a devastating plague. Following the Syracusan victory, an indemnity of 300 silver talents was exacted from the Carthaginian general Himilco, who returned to Africa and, in shame, shut himself up in his house and starved himself to death.