An ancient Bruttium stater produced in the city of Terina circa 410-405 BC will lead a January 11 sale at Gemini Numismatic Auctions with an estimate of $50,000.
The Bruttii were a southern Italian tribe who were largely wiped out at the close of the second Punic war in the second century BC. Initially a Greek colony, Terina stood in the region of Italy known today as Calabria.
 The stater was minted in Terina in approximately 410-405 BC |
The coin features virtuosic engraving and can be directly connected with the sculptures of the Parthenon in Athens, which were completed in 432 BC, in its depiction of the goddess Nike.
It features a casually seated Nike with superbly realised robes. A similar composition, featuring the goddess adjusting her shoe, is visible on the Parthenon - indicating that the engraver had been directly influenced by the Attic school.
Only 14 coins with this particular reverse die are recorded, making it exceptionally rare.
A Sicilian drachm produced in the city of Naxos circa 460-450 BC is valued at $35,000.
It features a representation of Dionysius, the Greek god of wine, along with an image of a squatting Silenos on the reverse.
Naxos was a Greek colony in Sicily, destroyed in 403 BC by the Syracucians, who objected to the city's support of an Athenian invasion in 415-413 BC.
We have a range of rare coins available.
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