Stearns Bicycle

STEARNS BICYCLE 1898 SILVER REPRODUCTION TOKEN GREEK DEKADRACHM SYRACUSE    w19 Produced by the Stearns Bicycle Company, 1898 Copy of Syracuse Decadrachm many were produced in pewter and bronze, few were made in silver and gold. Obverse: Wreathed head of Arethusa left, surrounded by swimming dolphins. Reverse: Galloping quadriga left, Nike above flying right and crowning charioteer. ΣTEARNΣ (Stearns in Greek lettering) In 1847 "The Salt City" (for its abundant salt mines) in central New York was officially named Syracuse, after of Syracuse, Sicily. In 1893, E.C. Stearns, would start a bicycle shop called the Stearns Bicycle Agency in Syracuse, New York. After building several popular models of bicycle, including the Yellow Fellow, the bicycle industry became quite competitive. Many larger companies started building more and more bikes to meet growing demand. In 1898 Stearns started an ad campaign asking for customers to send Stearns Bicycles two 2 cent stamps and in return Stearns would send them back a copy of the famous Syracuse Decadrachm (in honor of the cities namesake) and a copy of their bike models catalog. Stearns Bicycle Agency would eventually succumb to the bicycle monopoly, The American Bicycle Company in 1900. Their Syracusean copies would however live on. (Cited from: https://www.cointalk.com/threads/a-fake-from-syracuse-new-york.316501/) From “The Great Round World And What Is Going On In It” Vol. 2, No. 11, March 17, 1898: Stearns bicycles, like the coins of ancient Greece, are works of art and represent the highest possible value. The 23-inch frame "Yellow Fellow" and 21-inch drop frame are just the proper sizes for growing boys and girls. If you write E. C. Stearns & Company, asking them to send you their new illustrated catalogue, and will enclose two 2-cent stamps, they will send you an exact reproduction of the famous ten-drachm piece of Dionysius, the Tyrant of Syracuse. Dionysius went over to Syracuse with his four-horse chariot, called the quadriga, and, much to the surprise of the Greeks, won the coveted laurel wreath at the Olympian games. The Greeks refused Dionysius his trophy, however, and, in his rage, he caused to be struck off in commemoration of his victory the most magnificent coin the world has ever known. The coin was made by the greatest sculptor of Athens, Simon (sic). The coin is about as large as the American silver dollar, and is carved in high relief, on one side showing Dionysius in the quadriga being crowned by winged Victory and on the reverse, Arethusa, the tutelary goddess of the sea, surrounded by her dolphins. Send two 2-cent stamps for this beautiful ten-drachm piece, mentioning "The Great Round World." QUESTIONS?  732 759 1102

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