SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I, 405-367 BC. 100 Litrai or Double Dekadrachm (Gold, 14 mm, 5.79 g, 2 h), in the style of Kimon, circa 405-400 or somewhat later. ΣYP[AKOΣIΩN] Head of Arethousa (?) to left, her hair bound up in a sphendone ornamented with two stars, wearing triple-pendant earring and pearl necklace; behind her neck, star. Rev. Youthful Herakles, nude, kneeling right on rocky ground line, wrestling the Nemean lion. Bérend, Group V, 41 (D24/R20). Gillet 128 (same dies). HGC 2, 1275. SNG ANS 338 (same obverse die). Struck in high relief from dies of fine style. Minor weakness and flan faults on the obverse and light doubling and small die break on the reverse, otherwise, about extremely fine.



The magnificent Syracusan 100 litrai, or double dekadrachms, rank among the finest Greek gold coins ever produced. They are closely associated with the city's renowned dekadrachms by Kimon and Euainetos, whose signatures also appear on the earliest dies of the gold series. Bérend links the issue to the Greek struggle for independence against the advancing Carthaginians in 406/5–404 BC. However, hoard evidence indicates that these coins were likely struck over a longer period - possibly using treasures provided to Dionysios' father-in-law, Hermokrates, by the Persian satrap Pharnabazos in 409 BC (Diod. XIII, 63.1), and/or the 300 talents in ransom levied from the Carthaginian general Himilko following his failed siege of Syracuse in 397/6 BC.

The striking depiction on the reverse - Herakles' first and most celebrated Labor, the slaying of the Nemean lion - clearly alludes to Syracuse’s ongoing conflict with its archenemy, Carthage. Herakles, the great Doric hero and legendary ancestor of the Doric city of Syracuse, is shown defending the freedom of the western Greeks by vanquishing the lion, a symbol of Africa.