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Sicily, Leontinoi, Tetradrachm

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Sicily, Leontinoi, Tetradrachm (obverse) Sicily, Leontinoi, Tetradrachm (reverse)

This tetradrachm was issued in the 5th century BC in the Sicilian town of Leontinoi. It depicts a quadriga, a chariot pulled by four horses. This was the traditional coin motif of the city of Syracuse, under whose authority Leontinoi stood.

The reverse shows a lion's head surrounded by four ears of barley. The ears symbolized the fertility of the Leontinian lands, while the lion was a pun on the city's name ('leon' is Greek for lion).

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