Decadrachm - Second Democracy

Traite II.1, 2257 and pl. LXXIV, 11; Hunterian I, p. 221, 19.

This issue is especially famed because it is believed to be directly mentioned by Diodorus Siculus in his Bibliotheca historica. The dating of the so-called Demareteion decadrachm was traditionally placed around 480 to 479 BC, based on Diodorus’ account of the events following the Battle of Himera. He describes the Carthaginians offering a golden crown to Demarete, wife of the Syracusan tyrant Gelon, in gratitude for her role in negotiating peace. According to his account, Demarete then struck a coin known as the "Demareteion," valued at ten Attic drachmas.

Modern scholarship, however, has questioned this interpretation. In his 1969 study The Demareteion and Sicilian Chronology, Kraay argued that the coin mentioned by Diodorus was likely gold, not silver, and that the celebrated silver decadrachms of Syracuse traditionally linked to this story were struck later. Based on style and historical context, Kraay redated the series to around 470 to 460 BC, most likely circa 465 BC. He noted that the earlier dating had skewed the entire framework of Sicilian numismatic chronology. The close stylistic relationship between these decadrachms and contemporary tetradrachms of Syracuse, along with issues of Leontini featuring a lion—a symbol once thought to indicate involvement in the battle—supports a mid-fifth century date. Literary sources do not support Leontini’s participation at Himera, suggesting any connection between the coinages is numismatic rather than historical.

It was minted at the end of the Deinomenid Tyranny and beginning of the Second Democracy but it is unclear as to which exact authority it was minted under.

Only 7 known in private hands.