Greek Tetradrachm, Syracuse

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Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Tetradrachm, Syracuse
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker
Date490 B.C.E. - 461 B.C.E.
MediumSilver
DimensionsDiameter: 7/8 in. (2.3 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from Hamilton College Archives, Burke Library. Gift of Nathaniel Emmons Paine, Class of 1874
Object numberS2018.1.10
On view
DescriptionThis tetradrachm from Syracuse depicts the head of Arethusa, the patron nymph of Syracuse, facing right and surrounded by four dolphins with the inscription ΣYΡAKOΣION, meaning “of the Syracusans.” Dolphins were common in the Mediterranean Sea around Sicily and are commonly depicted on coinage from Syracuse. On the reverse of this coin, a charioteer drives a quadriga, or a four-horse chariot, facing right, while winged Nike, the goddess of Victory, flies above. This coin is a part of the Paine Coin Collection. This teaching collection of 32 Greek and Roman coins was formed by John Alsop Paine (1840 – 1912), Class of 1859, who was an archaeologist with the Palestine Exploration Society and a Curator in the Department of Casts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1889 until 1906. The collection came to the college through John Alsop Paine’s grandson, Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853 – 1948), Class of 1874.
Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Provenance 2018: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by transfer from College Archives, Burke Library;
?: Hamilton College, by gift of Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853-1948);
?: Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853-1948), presumably by inheritance or gift from his grandfather, John Alsop Paine (1840-1912);
?: John Alsop Paine (1840-1912), by excavation.
Inscribed ΣYΡAKOΣION ("of the Syracusans") on reverse
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Tetradrachm, Syracuse
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 317 B.C.E. - 310 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.11
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Stater, Syracuse
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 275 B.C.E. - 215 B.C.E.
Medium: Bronze
Object number: S2018.1.14
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Stater, Ptolemy V Epiphanes, Egypt
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 204 B.C.E. - 180 B.C.E.
Medium: Bronze
Object number: S2018.1.13
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Tetradrachm, Alexander the Great, Macedonia
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 336 B.C.E. - 323 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.9
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Roman bronze coin, Agrippa
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: c. 15 C.E.
Medium: Bronze
Object number: S2018.1.29
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Tetradrachm, Athens
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: c. 460 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.1
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Stater, Thurium
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 390 B.C.E. - 350 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.6
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Stater, Tarentum
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 272 B.C.E. - 235 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.12
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Silver coin from Rhodes
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 400 B.C.E. - 304 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.8
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Tetradrachm, Leontini
Unknown artist, Greek (Ancient)
Date: 500-466 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.5
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Roman Denarius, Claudius Nero
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 78 B.C.E. - 77 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.21
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Roman Denarius, L. Antestius Gragulus
Unknown artist, Roman (Ancient)
Date: 137 B.C.E. - 127 B.C.E.
Medium: Silver
Object number: S2018.1.22