View source for 3337 - Phlius (AE bull/phi) over Syracuse (Arethusa/octopus) (LHS, 96, May 2006, 94)

{{Overstrike
|Image overstriking coin=SO 17 - Phlius over Syracuse.jpg
|Image reference overstriking coin=LHS Numismatik, 96, 8 May 2006, no. 94
|Image overstruck variety=Syracuse_Octopus_(under_Phlius).jpg
|Image reference overstruck variety=https://pro.coinarchives.com/a/lotviewer.php?LotID=1758322&AucID=4035&Lot=124
|Sale=LHS Numismatik, 96, 8 May 2006, no. 94
|Private collection=BCD Coll.
|Obverse description=Bull charging right.
|Reverse legend=Φ
|Reverse legend language=Greek
|Reverse description=Φ and globules within linear square.
|Mint=Phlius
|Ancient region=Peloponnesus
|Date from=420 BCE
|Date to=410 BCE
|Period=Classical
|Metal=Bronze
|Weight=3.73
|Diameter=16.5
|Denomination=dichalkon
|Coin series reference=HGC 5, n° 168
|Overstruck obverse description=Head of Arethusa to right, her hair tied into a bun at the top of her head; to left and right, dolphin swimming downward
|Overstruck reverse description=Octopus; three pellets (mark of value) around
|Overstruck mint=Syracuse
|Overstruck ancient region=Sicily
|Overstruck date from=466 BCE
|Overstruck date to=405 BCE
|Overstruck period=Classical
|Overstruck denomination=uncia
|Coin series reference overstruck=Calciati 1995, no. 1 ; SNG ANS 5 Sicily, nos. 376-381; HGC 2, 1428
|Frequency of overstrikes=exceptional
|Level of confidence=strong
|Remarks=Said to have been found in the northern Peloponnesos. The bronze coinage of Phlious has hitherto been thought to have begun c. 400, but there can be no doubt that the present coin was struck somewhat earlier. The fact that the reverse was struck from a die used to produce silver hemidrachms of the 420s (an amazing occurrence in itself), has to link the coins rather closely in time; but the identity of the undertype makes this coin truly spectacular! Clearly visible on the present reverse, around the incuse square of the Phliasian type, are what appear to be the waving tentacles of an octopus (!), with, in one case, a large pellet between them. This can be nothing other than one of the early (c. 425) onkiai of Syracuse, as Calciati 1(1/20 is a particularly good match) and SNG ANS 376-381: the weight and size is exactly correct (traces of the original obverse can also be seen). Since the original coin is apparently little worn, it must have arrived in Greece shortly after it was issued. This could have occurred around the time of the Peace of Nikias in 421, or after the Athenian defeat at Syracuse in 413, when western travelers would have been easily able to reach Peloponnesian ports without fear of the Athenian fleet. The second known example of this coin is in the Ashmolean, from where BCD received a photograph of it twenty years ago. It was struck from another pair of dies but is clearly overstruck on another Syracusan onkia.
}}