Ancient Greece - 425-400 BCE Sicily, Syracuse AE Tetras NGC Choice AU★ in Fine Style

From the Faces in Time Collection of Ancient coinage (10).

SICILY. Syracuse. Time of Dionysios I. 405-367 B.C. Æ tetras. 2.07 gm. 14 mm. Dies attributed to Exakestidas. Struck circa 390 B.C. Head of the nymph Arethousa facing slightly left / Octopus. SNG ANS 385. CNS II p. 59, 29. SNG Copenhagen 679-680. Boehringer pl. 39, 26. Superb.

Ineffably lovely nymph, and beautiful green patina. According to CNS, "the model for the head on the obverse is derived from the facing Arethusa by Kimon." This example, attributed to Exakestidas, is of the most exquisite style.

Provenance:

Ex Frank Sternberg Auktion XVI (15 November 1985), lot 73.

Ex.Maurice Laffaille collection (Monnaies et Médailles S.A. Vente Publique 76, 19-20 September 1991), lot 212 (realized 1100 Swiss Francs). 

Ex. Davissons, Ltd. > Auction 37. February 2018, Lot 15.

Portrait of Arethusa from a different Sicilian coin than the one being offered by AUCM.

In Greek mythology Arethusa was a nymph who gave her name to a spring in Elis and one on the island of Ortygia near Syracuse. The river god Alpheus fell in love with the nymph Arethusa, who belonged to the retinue of Artemis. Then Arethusa ran away to Ortygia, where she was transformed into a spring. However, Alpheus dove beneath the sea and united his waters with those of the spring (Arethusa). According to Ovid's Metamorphoses, Book V, Arethusa, while bathing in the Alpheus River, was seen and followed in human form by the river god. Artemis then changed her into a spring, and flowing underground she emerged at Ortygia.