Sicily. Naxus. AR Litra (0.69g), ca. 500 BC. Cahn 50; Nomos 2023 (26) lot 159. Very rare. Lovely deep tone. Well centered and struck. Slightly rough surfaces. Beautiful late archaic style! Good very fine. Acquired privately from Sonja Lambert, Brussels.

The coins of Naxus are considered one of the finest in numismatic art! Indeed, from the boldly rendered head of the city's patron deity, Dionysus, in the archaic era, to the sublime realism of his visage on its classical coinage, the obtaining of an example has always been a goal of any collector of Greek coins. Unlike much contemporary coinage of other mints, the quality of this workmanship is also present on the fractions of Naxus! In fact, parallels in style are obvious between the various denominations, thus suggesting that the talented artists who worked on the tetradrachms, didrachms, and drachms were also lending their hands to the hemidrachms, litrae, hemilitrae, and tetrantes. The selection below clearly displays the superlative quality of this astonishing coinage.