SICILY, Syracuse
Timoleon and the Third Democracy
AE Hemidrachm. 14.2g, 24.9mm
MINTED: SICILY, Syracuse, circa 344-339/8 BC
REF: CNS 72; HGC 2, 1440; Sear 1192
OBVERSE: ZEΥΣ ΕΛΕΘΥΕPΙΟΣ, laureate head of Zeus Eleutherios right.
REVERSE: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, upright thunderbolt; to right, eagle standing right.

Notes:
Dark green patina with minor roughness. 
 
Historical Notes:
While was Syracuse famously the wealthiest and most important city on the island of Sicily, it was not without troubled times.  In the mid 4th century BC, while Sicily was threatened by an impending Carthaginian invasion, Syracuse was seized by Hiketas, the tyrant of Leontini.  It was under these circumstances that a Syracusan embassy sought the aid of Corinth, which sent its general Timoleon, who successfully ousted Hiketas and restored democratic government to the city.  Timoleon's subsequent efforts at rebuilding and reorganizing Syracuse ushered in a period of prosperity and cultural rejuvation, resulting in his being known as the Second Founder of Syracuse. It has been theorized that the excellent style of Syracuse's coinage under Timoleon was the work of one or a number of master engravers brought over to the island from Corinth.