Sicily. Leontinoi. Tetradrachm. Circa 455-430 BC (Silver, 26.56 mm, 17.12 g). Laureate head of Apollo right. Rev. ΛE - O - N - TI - NO - N, Lion's head right, with open jaws and tongue protruding; around, four barley grains. Dewing 624 (these dies). Jameson 628 (these dies). SNG ANS 219 (these dies). Rizzo, pl. XXIII, 6. Jameson 628. Boehringer, Studies Price, pl. 11, 34 (these dies). HGC 2, 667 var. Lightly toned with some deposits. A remarkable coin, perfectly centered with a attractive portrait of outstanding style. Near Extremely Fine. Very Rare. This beautifully preserved tetradrachm of Leontini was struck during a rare moment of peace in the late 5th century BC, between the fall of the Deinomenid dynasty and the rise of Dionysios I. A Chalkidian foundation, Leontini honored Apollo—patron of the Chalkidians and their colonies—with an obverse depicting the god in an unusually delicate and almost nymph-like form, distinguished by his laurel wreath. On the reverse, a lion’s head—playing on the city’s name—is surrounded by four barley grains, alluding to the fertility of the Leontine plain and arranged in a circular pattern that recalls the dolphins encircling Arethusa on contemporary Syracusan coinage.