SICILY. Leontinoi. Tetradrachm (Circa 430-425 BC).

Obv: Laureate head of Apollo left.
Rev: LEONTINON.
Lion head with open jaws; three barleycorns and laurel leaf around.

Boehringer 55; SNG ANS 256-7; HGC 2, 671.

From the Dr. Fritz Reiff Collection, ex Auktionen GM 31 (1985), lot 51; ex Fritz Rudolf Künker 94 (2004), lot 317. The coinage of Leontinoi in the 5th century BC, especially the tetradrachms, represents one of the highest achievements of Sicilian engraving art. The city’s monetary series display a coherent and refined evolution in which two images dominate and define its visual identity: the head of Apollo and the lion’s protome. The head of Apollo is the principal type on the obverse dies. The image is rendered with increasing elegance: at first more archaic and rigid, then progressively softer, more harmonious, and classically proportioned. Apollo is not merely an aesthetic motif; he embodies the Chalcidian cultural heritage, the Greek origins of the city, and an ideal of order, balance, and civic identity. The presence of several engravers, including the renowned “Master of Leontinoi”, contributes to an extraordinary stylistic variety, a sign of a lively and innovative mint. The lion is the oldest and most deeply rooted symbol of Leontinoi, already linked to the city’s name and local tradition. On the coins it appears as a lion’s protome, often accompanied by barley grains, or as a running lion in earlier issues. It serves a dual purpose: it evokes the very name of the city and expresses strength, pride and autonomy, even in periods when the polis was politically subordinate to Syracuse. This combination creates a powerful visual language that blends indigenous tradition, Greek culture, and artistic ambition. Leontinoi, though not one of Sicily’s great powers, thus succeeds in expressing a distinctive and original voice within the island’s numismatic landscape.

Condition: Near extremely fine.

Weight: 16.87 g.
Diameter: 26 mm.

Estimate: € 1000.