SICILY. Syracuse. Dionysios I (405-367 BC). GOLD 20 Litrai.

Obv: ΣYPA.
Head of Herakles left, wearing lion's skin.
Rev: Σ - Y - P - A.
Quadripartite incuse square; head of Arethusa left in centre.

Boehringer, Münzprägungen, pl. I, 6; Rizzo pl. XLVIII, 7-9; SNG ANS 351-4; HGC 2, 1289.

Unlike in the East, in Greece and the Greek colonies in the West, silver was the metal commonly used for coinage. The first and rare examples of gold coinage date back to the first half of the 5th century and involve Cumae and Poseidonia. In Messana, during the same period, a rare gold diobol was issued, representing the first gold coinage in Sicily, if we exclude the Syracusan ‘demareteia’, an issue of which no examples have survived and which is mentioned by Diodorus Siculus. It was during the tyranny of Dionysios I that gold began to be minted on a large scale in Syracuse, helpful in supporting his vast public building program and the war against the Punic invaders. Four series were produced, of 100, 50, 20, and 10 litrai, with a gold-to-silver ratio set at 1:15. The start of the issue of these series can be dated to around 404 BC. The image of Herakles strangling the lion, which appears on the 100 litrai, symbolizes the conflict between Syracuse and Carthage, while the head of Herakles with the lion's skin (present here on the 20 litrai) alludes to the victory that had already been achieved.

Condition: Good very fine.

Weight: 1.16 g.
Diameter: 10 mm.