1 Decadrachm, Syracuse, about 400 B.C.E.
date: label: date made
content: late 5th century BCE
name: label: maker
content: Syracuse
notes: label: Description
content: Among the most alluring coins of antiquity was the Syracuse dekadrachm. Its artistry (designed by Kimon and Euinatos, among others)and incredibly high relief have captivated coin lovers for two and a half millennia. How did the Greeks, who worked only by hand, achieve such levels of beauty?
label: Description
content: One of those attracted by coins such as this was a dynamic American president, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt's record as a political reformer is well known. What is less recognized is his role in reforming American money. When the President compared contemporary American coins to Classical masterpieces such as this dekadrachm, he became indignant. Why, he wondered, did the powerful, young nation he was leading tolerate its pedestrian gold and silver coinage? Why couldn't American money be more artistic? Why couldn't it be as beautiful as ancient coinage? Why couldn't it feature dramatic relief, so that every facet of its design was clear for all to see? Roosevelt acted on his thought by enlisting sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens to design what many regard as the most beautiful American coin ever produced, the 1907 twenty-dollar gold piece.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Italy: Sicily, Sicily
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: National Numismatic Collection
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content: Coins
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content: Numismatics
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content: Coins, Currency and Medals
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content: Legendary Coins
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Zoomable Image and Details
label: Related Publication
content: Glossary of Coins and Currency Terms
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/coins/glossary.cfm
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Abraham A. Rosen
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1981.1025.0010
label: accession number
content: 1981.1025
label: catalog number
content: 1981.1025.0010
objectType: label: Object Name
content: coin
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: silver (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 34.3 mm; 1 11/32 in