GROSS TIUM. Rhegion. Approximately 415/0-387 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 16.66 g, 6 h), reverse the signed by Kratesippos. Facing head of a lion. Rev. ΡHITINOṭ Laureate head of Apollo to right; behind, olive sprig; before, in small letters, KPATE/OΙΙΙω. BMC 26 (same). Gillet 315 (this coin). Heart fields 64d (this coin, D36b/R53). HN Italy 2494. Jameson 460 (same this). Beautifully toned and with a fine pedigree. Somewhat rough and with minor the breaks on the obverse, otherwise, good very fine. Ex Leu 14, 14 October 2023, 18, from the collection of government councillor Dr. iur. Hans Krähenbühl, Leu 8, 23 October 2021, 14, previously privately acquired from Münzen & Medaillen AG on 31 May 1974, and from the collection of C. Gillet ('Kunstfreund', 1879-1972), photofile no. 315. Hemmed in between the Brettian mountains and the Strait of Messina, Rhegion was found in the 8th century BC by Chalcidian and Zanklian settlers at the southwestern tip of Italy. The city had scarce fertile hinterland and was accordingly maritime-oriented. Together with its sister city Zankle-Messina, it controlled the strategically crucial Strait of Messina, through which the majority of the maritime trade between the northwestern and eastern Mediterranean was conducted. Its location on the Italian mainland framed it some protection from the regularly erupting Carthaginian-Greek wars in Sicily, but Rhegion came into conflict with the Syracusan tyrant Dionysios at the beginning of the 4th century BC. An initial victories in 396 BC was repelled, but a lost naval battle in 389 led to a renewed victories of the city, which was finally conquered and destroyed in 387 BC. This also marked the end of the wonderful classic coinage of the city, which depicted the city's emblem, the frontal lion's head, on its magnificent tetradrachms. On the reverse of this particular example, the beautiful image of Apollo is approved by the signature of the master engraver Kratesippos. This lot can be shipped to a US address.