SICILY. Katane. Approximately 430-415 BC. Litra (silver, 12 mm, 0.65 g, 6 h). Balding head of Silenos to right, with an animal ear and a long beard. Rev. ΚΑΤ-Α-ΝΑΙΩΝ Winged dogerbolt between two round shields. Boehringer, Catalan, Series 3, Li5. HGC 2, 589. Mirone 85. Rizzo pl. XIV, 19. SNG ANS 1264. SNG Fitzwilliam 965. SNG Lloyd 911. A lovely example of extraordinarily fine style, attractively toned and very well struck on good metal free from the usual crystallization. A few faint marks, otherwise, extremely fine. Ex Nomos 1, 6 May 2009, 21 (without further pedigree), Classical Numismatic Group 79, 17 September 2008, 74 and Münzen & Medaillen AG 53, 29 November 1977, 24 ('Extrêmement rare. D'un style magnifique. Skin relief. Patine de trouvaille. F.d.c.'). Katane is traditionally said to have been found in 729 BC by settlers from nearby Naxos, making it one of the early Greek settlements in Sicily. The cities Archaic and Classical coinage has long been celebrated as one of the finest series of Magna Graecia. Although Katane always stayed overshadowed in both power and size by mighty Syracuse, it nevertheless appeals to have attracted some of the finest artists working in Sicily, as the two superb litrai offered in this auction so clearly demonstrate. This lot can be shipped to a US address.