Ancients: SICILY. Acragas. Ca. 470-420 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.46 gm, 2h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5....

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SICILY. Acragas. Ca. 470-420 BC. AR tetradrachm (27mm, 17.46 gm, 2h). NGC AU 5/5 - 3/5. AKRAC-ANTOΣ (partially retrograde), eagle with folded wings standing left / Crab within circular incuse. Randazzo -. SNG ANS 976-7.

Acragas was founded on the southern coast of Sicily by colonists from Gela in about 580 BC and quickly grew into one of the most prosperous and populous Greco-Sicilian cities. In 480 BC, Acragas joined Syracuse in defeating the Carthaginians at the Battle of Himera; while this freed Sicily from Punic domination for a time, Carthage did not forget the humiliation. When Carthage re-invaded Sicily in the later fifth century BC, the general Hamilco placed Acragas under siege in 406 BC. Despite assistance from Syracuse and Sparta, Acragas fell eight months later and was subjected to a thorough sacking, from which it never fully recovered. From its earliest coinage circa 510 BC, Acragas featured an eagle, sacred to Zeus, to whom a large temple was dedicated, backed with an overhead view of a crab, harvested as a delicacy in the region.

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