Sicily, Camarina. Circa 420-405 BC. Uncia

Sicily, Camarina. Circa 420-405 BC. Uncia (Bronze, 15 mm, 1.41 g). Facing gorgoneion, with protruding tongue and stylized locks. Rev. KAMA Owl standing right, grasping lizard; retrograde B in left field; pellet in exergue. Calciati 15; Westermark-Jenkins 188. Attractive green patina. Extremely fine.

Ex Helios 6, 9 March 2011, 336.

A choice example of this small but evocative bronze issue from Camarina, struck in the final decades before the city’s destruction by the Carthaginians in 405 BC. The obverse gorgoneion, apotropaic and forceful despite the coin’s modest module, is paired with one of the most distinctive reverse types of the Camarina bronze series: an owl seizing a lizard. The owl may allude broadly to watchfulness or civic protection, while the lizard probably belongs to the local naturalistic vocabulary found on Sicilian bronze issues of the late fifth century. The retrograde B and pellet serve as control or value marks. Well centered and unusually fresh for the type, with the reverse scene exceptionally clear.