14C010
SICILY
AV 2 Litrae (1.76gm)
Winter 406/5 B.C.

Signed on the obverse by IM.... Helmeted head of Athena left, die engraver's signature IM (inverted) under neck truncation / Aegis with gorgoneion. Boehringer, Essays Thompson, pl. 38, 12.

One of three known. This great rarity is not to be confused with the slightly more common gold piece with the same types, but weighing c. 67gm and lacking the artist's signature. Our dilitron belongs to a coordinated issue of emergency gold coinages produced at Agrigentum, Gela, and Syracuse late in 406 to finance the latter stages of the eight-month defense of Agrigentum, the first victim of the terrifying Carthaginian invasion of 406-405 B.C. The gold for these issues came from temple treasuries and even women's jewelry. However the artistic quality of our piece, including its signature, seems incongruous under the circumstances, while its companion 4-litra piece depicts an athlete, suggesting that Syracuse somehow managed to celebrate games amid the crisis. The types invoke Athena in her role as defender of Greek culture against barbarians. The artist Im... (or Mi...) also signed a slightly earlier gold issue and a contemporary Syracusan tetradrachm (Tudeer 67).

Catalogue XIV

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