PAPHLAGONIA. Sinope. Late 5th century BC. Drachm (Silver, 20 mm, 6.09 g). Head of a sea-eagle to left; below, dolphin to left. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square with two opposing quarters filled, pellet within Δ and pellet within opposing unfilled quarters. HGC 7, 388 var. (differing letter). RG -. SNG BM Black Sea -. SNG von Aulock -. The New York Sale XXVII (2012), 428 (same dies). Lightly toned. Lustrous and exceptionally well preserved, with a wonderful head of an eagle with exceptional details. Light marks and with minor weakness on the reverse, otherwise, good extremely fine.



The later, naturalistic drachms of Sinope show a strong debt to the eagle types of Elis, where the engraver Da… (Daidalos?) produced his masterpieces of ancient animal art toward the end of the 5th century BC, traditionally dated to the 91st-93rd Olympiads (416-408 BC) (Seltman 148-160). Many of the dies from the Black Sea city fall short of these classical models, yet some attain a remarkably high standard - as is strikingly demonstrated by our superbly preserved specimen, struck from one of Sinope’s finest dies. Whereas Da… at Olympia conveys more convincingly the predatory vigor of the king of the skies, the anonymous Sinopian engraver captivates above all with the finely observed rendering of the eagle’s eye and the extraordinarily delicate treatment of the plumage. Without question, this is one of the most beautiful drachms of Sinope to have come down to us.