Coins from the Foot of Mount Etna

The modern city of Catania on the foot of Mount Etna has a turbulent history. Settlers from the Sicilian city of Naxos founded the town in the 8th century BC under the name of Katane. On the one hand, its history was influenced by Mount Etna, the volcano to which Katane owed the fertility of its hinterland, but which destroyed the town repeatedly.

On the other hand, Katane suffered time and again from the antagonism of the powerful city of Syracuse: around 476 BC, the tyrant Hieron I of Syracuse evicted the people of Katane, replaced them by settlers of his own and renamed the town Aetna. Only in 466 BC, after the fall of the tyranny in Syracuse, could the Katanians return to their homes. Some 60 years later, Dionysius I of Syracuse destroyed Katane and handed the territory over to Campanian mercenaries. And finally in 263 BC, after the Roman conquest, Katane fell to Syracuse for the last time.

Katane started to issue coins in its own name only in 461 BC, after the return of the Katanians from their exile. Hence the first Katanian coins proudly bore the winged figure of the goddess victory on one side, together with the inscription "KATANAION."

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Sicily, Catane, Tetradrachm, c. 460 BC

Denomination: Tetradrachm Mint Authority: City of Catane Mint: Catane (Catania) Year of Issue: -460 Weight (g): 17.05 Diameter (mm): 27.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation

This tetradrachm is one of the earliest coins of the ancient town of Catane on Sicily. It shows the river god Amenanus, here illustrated as a bull with a human face. The water is symbolized by a sea monster at the bull's feet. Above Amenanus flies a Nike, a goddess of victory. The other side of the coin bears the winged figure of the goddess of victory in full length; the inscription names the mint of the coin in Greek letters: KATANAION – the town of Catane.

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Sicily, Catane, Tetradrachm, c. 450 BC

Denomination: Tetradrachm Mint Authority: City of Catane Mint: Catane (Catania) Year of Issue: -450 Weight (g): 17.05 Diameter (mm): 27.0 Material: Silver Owner:

The first tetradrachms of Catane had shown the embodiment of the river god Amenanus. But between 445 and 440 BC, Catane adopted a new coin type: the obverse now bore a horse chariot, imitating the typical coin motif of Syracuse. At that time, the coinage of Syracuse was trendsetting in Sicily, and from the 470s BC, the Syracusan quadriga had become the characteristic coin motif on most Sicilian coins. Catane could obviously not avoid this fashion – antagonism or no.

The reverse of our tetradrachm illustrates the head of the Greek god Apollo, Catane's city patron. It is one of the early depictions of Apollo: a high degree of formalism is combined with a new vibrancy – the tension hence produced is typical for the early classical time. This is a rare coin of exquisite beauty.

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Sicily, Syracuse, Tetradrachm, c. 460 BC

Denomination: Tetradrachm Mint Authority: City of Syracuse Mint: Syracuse Year of Issue: -460 Weight (g): 17.34 Diameter (mm): 26.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation

The coinage of the Sicilian city of Syracuse was one of the most abundant and artistically distinguished of any age. And although the city began relatively late to strike its own coins – presumably in the last decade of the 6th century BC – it eventually came to exercise a dominant influence over the coinage of the rest of Sicily.

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Sicily, Catane, Litra, 416-412 BC

Denomination: Litra Mint Authority: City of Catane Mint: Catane (Catania) Year of Issue: -416 Weight (g): 0.56 Diameter (mm): 13.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation

This litra from the Sicilian city of Catane bears the bearded head of a Silenus, a creature half man half beast. Silenoi had stump noses and the ears and tails of either a horse or a goat. They belonged to the entourage of Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy.

The reverse of our coin bears the winged thunderbolt of Zeus, for Greek legend had it that Dionysus was the son of Zeus. In the guise of a human, the father of the gods had a love affair with Semele, the Princess of Thebes. As proof of his love, Semele demanded of Zeus that he reveal his true form to her. Zeus showed himself to Semele as bolts of lightning, whereupon she perished in the ensuing blaze. Since Semele was pregnant at the time of her death, Zeus took the child and sewed it into his thigh. From there, a few months later, he released a fully-grown baby. This was Dionysus, the "twice-born." His second birth by Zeus granted Dionysus divinity and immortality.

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Sicily, Catane, Hexas (1/6 Litra), c. 415-402 BC

Denomination: Hexas (1/6 Litra) Mint Authority: City of Catane Mint: Catane (Catania) Year of Issue: -415 Weight (g): 0.12 Diameter (mm): 6.0 Material: Silver Owner: Sunflower Foundation

This coin from Catane is a hexas, a unit of the Sicilian litra. Hexae were minted either from silver or from bronze; our coin is made of silver. Such coins were small change used for daily purchases – as the two pellets on the reverse of the coin indicate, that it had a value of 2 onkiai.

The most important cults cultivated in Catane were those of Apollo, Dionysus and the river god Amenanus, whose head is depicted on this coin.

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Sicily, Catane, AE (Bronze Unit), 4th Century BC

Denomination: AE (Bronze Unit) Mint Authority: City of Catane Mint: Catane (Catania) Year of Issue: -400 Weight (g): 0.45 Diameter (mm): 10.0 Material: Bronze Owner: Sunflower Foundation

In Sicily, the first bronze coins appeared sometime during the second half of the 5th century BC. The emergence of the new medium had different reasons: on the one hand, the non-Greek peoples on Sicily used bronze objects as means of payment, and the introduction of bronze money certainly facilitated Greek trade with these peoples. On the other hand, bronze coins were an easy way to provide denominations of very low value, since urban economics in Sicily met an increasing need for small coins. Silver was impractical for this purpose, because small denominations from valuable silver required tiny coins, which too easily got lost.

By the beginning of the 4th century BC – about the time in which the coin shown here was issued – round minted bronze coins were struck throughout Sicily. The basis for the Sicilian bronze coins was the litra, a weight system only used in Sicily and southern Italy. In this system, a drachm was divided into 5 litrae, while in turn one litrae held 12 onkiai. Because the small denominations were very difficult to distinguish one from another, the value was often indicated on the coin. Unfortunately, our coin does not have any mark of value; hence, a classification is not possible – all the more so as it is an extremely rare coin.

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