Decadrachm Of Syracuse

@soak, first welcome to CCF. Second, in addition to a pic of the other side, it would like be helpful to have an image of the edge of this piece. Please add them both to this thread when you have a chance. Thx.

Thanks for your input. The jewelry though could be the case the woman that I inherited the stuff from was quite into jewelry and jewelry design. Next I'll take it to a coin shop and have the metal tested. I have a few emails out there. I'll post back what I find out.

to the Community!

Dionysus of Syracuse had gold coins struck, to finance the second stage of his wars with the cartagians. The largest denomination was 100 lital, or 20 drachms. All of these weighted 5.8 g.

Gold currency in Syracuse accompanied wars with Carthage. Agathocles also issued gold coins, and later Hicetas. As as payment for mercenaries, substitute for silver coinage, it was never very big. A 65.6 g Siracuse coin is impossible.

This is a worrying imitation of a decadrach from the Dionysus era, 400 BC. The real thing in silver weights 43.3 g. Technically lacking, does not seem to be a museum reproduction. Not a good one at least, because of the lack in detail. The obverse die is a reproduction of a well known one. 314, 315 in the Gulbenkian collection. The reverse with Arethusa also lacks detail, and imitates the matching reverses that I know of but not exactly.

Perhaps it was cast with a mold from a from a genuine decadrachm. That would explain the lack of detail. And failures like around the chin and in the neck. Is was not meant to deceive collectors because anyone with the money to buy Syracuse coins would know there are no gold ones this size. But if a cast copy it is well disguised. The obverse at first impression seems a struck coin, concerning.

Greek use of gold for coins had a long history. Croesus of Lydia was traditionally credited with the first staters of gold. They were the same size as the first silver coins, almost 11 grams. But then the greeks reduced the weights. Gold and silver had a 13 to 1 value ratio. With silver coins having 11 g the gold coins of Lydia were reduced to 8 g. As coinage spread the persians took the bi-metallic system from Lydia for their use across the empire. But classical greek city states chose a silver standard. Gold coinage was rare. It was struck for emergencies. Wages of mercenaries could not be paid with big gold coins, not practical. And I see no reason for some ruler to want a gold version of a coin as a kind of medal. Possible but it would be a foreign idea.

There are big coins known but from the hellenistic period. After the looting of the persian treasury and the production of new mines like those in Macedonia the greek world moved to also use gold for coins. The normal weight for gold coins was the same as the most normal weight for the silver stater, Corinth with 8.6 g. Gold and silver would be at a 10:1 value ratio.

With people then used to gold coins the idea of a gold coin for prestige would no longer be strange. Some descendants of the diadochi indulged in striking big gold coins with their likeness. The later Ptolemies in Egypt up to 27 g. But even in the second century BC it was an unusually big size. There is the famous gold 20 stater of the indo-bactrian kingdom by Eucratides. That coin should have been described as a medallion. There are other examples of late hellenistic and roman big medals, medallions, perhaps struck for prestige or gifting.