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Last additions - Nathan P
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Sikyonia, Sikyon (Circa 431-400 BC)AR Drachm

23mm, 5.31 g

Obverse: Chimaira advancing left

Reverse: Dove flying left within laurel wreath.

BCD Peloponnesos 204; HGC 5, 207.

Sparta famously coined no money until well after the end of the classical period. However, because Spartans made up only a small part of the Peloponnesian army during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) it still required coins to pay for mercenaries. The Peloponnesian mercenaries came largely from Arkadia (center of the Peloponnese peninsula) and would expect to be paid in money coined on the Aeginetan standard. Coins of Aegina were the dominant currency of the Peloponnesus but Aegina’s minting activities came to an end in 431 BC when Athens occupied the city and expelled its citizens. Corinth seemed an obvious solution for a communal mint but Corinth had its own weight standard and would not want to change it and complicate its trade interests in the west. Sparta was also probably distrustful of putting too much influence in the hands of Corinth by allowing it control of the bullion reserves.

That is where Sikyon comes in. At the time Sikyon was the wealthy capital famous for being a center for the arts as well as being known for its fruits and vegetables, its wines, and olives. The whole area was named “field of cucumbers” (Sikyonia) after the cucumbers that grew there.

Sikyon was small enough not to pose a threat to Spartan hegemony and yet close enough to Corinth to give that city a measure of influence. It has been suggested that the treasury at Olympia was used as a silver source to coin the money needed for the war (Persian money would only come late in the war).

This drachm depicts a chimera, a mythical, fire-breathing monster composed of parts of three animals: a lion with the head of a goat arising from its back and a tail that ends in a snake’s head, walking proudly to the left in an almost heraldic manner. According to Greek mythology, the chimera was slain by Bellerophon, and appeared on most of the major coinage of Sikyon. A dove is shown on the reverse, representing the main emblem of the city and a symbol of spirit.

Nathan PJan 06, 2023
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Calabria, Tarentum (Circa 280 BC)AR Nomos

22.5mm, 7.58 g

Obverse: Youth on horseback right, crowning horse; [ΣA to left, APE/ΘΩN in two lines below]

Reverse: Phalanthos, holding tripod, riding dolphin left; TAΡAΣ above [CAΣ below]

Vlasto 666–7; HN Italy 957

280 BC was the last year the original Tarentine weight standard of 7.8 g remained in place before being reduced to about 6.6 grams, perhaps to match the Roman weight standard of 6 scruples. Likely not coincidentally, this was also the year that Tarentum enlisted the help of the famous general King Pyrrhus of Epirus to fight against the Romans. King Pyrrhus had long dreamed of emulating his cousin Alexander the Great's conquests and saw the conflict with Rome as an opportunity to do so. He arrived in Italy with his army and several war elephants and defeated the Romans twice, but the second victory at Asculum came at such a high cost that he famously said, "If we win one more victory against the Romans, we will be completely ruined." Hence the phrase, a "Pyrrhic victory." He eventually left Southern Italy for Sicily. In the end, Rome won the Pyrrhic War (280-272 B.C.) and forced Tarentum to accept a permanent Roman garrison on its acropolis.

Taras coins minted between 425 and 209 BC typically depict a horseman on the obverse and a young man riding a dolphin on the reverse (Phalanthos, the half-Spartan divine founder of Tarentum supposedly carried to shore by a dolphin after a shipwreck). The horseman designs are believed to represent the worship of the Dioscuri, the twin deities Castor and Pollux (deities of horsemanship, athletes, and soldiers) worshipped in Taras' mother city of Sparta. This particular didrachm features a peaceful scene of a young man crowning a horse, which may commemorate a victory in an athletic contest.
1 commentsNathan PJan 06, 2023
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Aegina (Circa 480-457 BC)AR Stater

20mm, 12.26g

Obverse: Sea turtle, (the ridge of its shell ornamented with a row of dots and two smaller additional dots at the front)

Reverse: Incuse square divided into five compartments.

Milbank pl. I, 13; Sear 2594

Aegina is a rocky and mountainous island in the Saronic Gulf located about 25 miles southeast of Athens. Because of its limited availability of cultivable land, the inhabitants needed to leverage the sea for their livelihood. They became expert merchants and tradesmen, dominating the shipping industry early in the sixth century BC. Their success and near-monopoly brought the island great wealth and power.

During their travels, the merchants encountered the developing early electrum ancient coins in Ionia and Lydia. They recognized the potential to not only store their considerable wealth in the form of portable ancient coins, but also to optimize trade through a global currency. Aegina therefore became the first of the Greek city-states to issue coined money, starting in the mid-sixth century BC.

Their status as the first international trade currency was aided by the consistency of their designs, and their coins spread far throughout the known world. Throughout Peloponnesus the coinage of Aegina was, down to the time of the Peloponnesian war, the only universally recognized medium of exchange.

The earliest ancient coins types, like this coin, depict a sea turtle engraved in high relief with an incuse pattern on the reverse. The coin above is a Type II (of IV total), a period from 480-456 BC (based on hoard finds) when Aegina’s power was lessening and Athens was on the rise. Type II coins show a greater consistency and broadness of flan shape, the carapaces of the turtles’ shell decorated with pellets arranged in the form of a T, and a skew pattern on the reverse, which had become current in about 500BC but in a much more spacious form with thick bands separating the incuse elements of the design.

In 456 BC Aegina was made tributary to Athens; and in 431 BC the inhabitants were expelled en masse, and the island occupied by Athenian colonists.
1 commentsNathan PAug 02, 2021
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Persia, Achaemenid Empire. Darios I to Xerxes II (Circa 485-420 BC)AR Siglos

18 mm, 5.59 g

Sardes Mint

Obverse: Persian king in kneeling-running stance right, holding spear and bow, quiver over shoulder.
Reverse: Incuse rectangular punch.

Carradice Type IIIb (early)

Type III siglos (490-375 BC) all have the kneeling-running figure of the Great King right, transverse spear with point downward in right, bow in left hand, bearded, and crowned. They were possibly introduced in connection with the accession of Xerxes. Type IIIb is characterized by a heavier weight (5.55-5.6g vs. 5.3-5.39g for the earlier Type A) and often exhibits a cartoon-like large eye and aquiline nose (evident above).
Nathan POct 05, 2020
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Carthage, Second Punic War (203-201 BC)BI 1½ Shekels.

25mm, 9.18g

Obverse: Wreathed head of Tanit left

Reverse: Horse standing right, head left, with leg raised.

MAA 81; SNG Copenhagen 390-3.

Billon is debased silver, an indication of the financial stress Carthage was under towards the end of the war. This particular coin would have been minted in Carthage right around the time of the decisive battle of Zama (southwest of Carthage) where the Roman General Scipio Africanus defeated Hannibal in 202 BC.
Nathan PAug 25, 2020
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Bruttium, Brettii (Circa 211-208 BC)Æ24, 6.06g

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus r.; behind, spear.

Reverse: Eagle standing l., with head r. and wings open; below in l. field, plough.

SNG ANS 133. Historia Numorum Italy 1994.
Nathan PJul 30, 2020
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Campania, Cales (Circa 265-240 BC)AE 23, 6.52 g

Obverse: Head of Athena l., wearing Corinthian helmet. CAΛENO (CALENO)

Reverse: Cock standing r.; in l. field, star.

Sambon 916. Historia Numorum Italy 435.

Before the Romans, Cales had been the center of an earlier Italic population called the Ausones (Aurunci in Latin), a people that inhabited areas of southern Italy well beyond Campania by about 1000 BC. That people may have come from Greece, but there is also archaeological evidence of Etruscan origin or at least influence. The source of the name Cales may be the proper name Calai, mythologically said to be one of Jason’s companions aboard the Argo and to have founded Cales.

Livy (VIII.16.13-14) relates that a Latin colony, the first in Campania, was established at Cales in 334 BC. It was apparently part of the area conquered by Rome circa 313 BC after which Cales became the center of Roman rule in Campania. Similar coins were struck at Cales, Suessa Aurunca, Caiatia, Telesia, Teanum, and at least one other town, doubtless by permission of the Romans. This uniformity of types suggests a monetary alliance.
Nathan PJul 29, 2020
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Sicily, Syracuse. Dionysius I (Circa 400-390 BC) Æ22 (7.48g)

Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet.

Reverse: Hippocamp to left

Calciati 34. SNG ANS 434.

Dionysius began his working life as a clerk in a public office. Because of his achievements in the war against Carthage that began in 409 BC, he was elected supreme military commander in 406 BC. In the following year he seized total power and became tyrant.

Dionysius, who styled himself a poet, was fond of having literary men about him, such as the historian Philistus, the poet Philoxenus, and the philosopher Plato. Diodorus Siculus humorously relates in his Bibliotheca historica that Dionysius once had Philoxenus arrested and sent to the quarries for voicing a bad opinion about his poetry. The next day, he released Philoxenus because of his friends' requests, and brought the poet before him for another poetry reading. Dionysius read his own work and the audience applauded. When he asked Philoxenus how he liked it, the poet turned to the guards and said "take me back to the quarries."
Nathan PJul 27, 2020
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Sicily, Akragas (480-470 BC)AR Didrachm

20.17 mm, 8.80 g

Obverse: Eagle standing left, AK-(RA)

Reverse: Crab within shallow incuse circle.

Westermark, Coinage, Group IV; HGC 2, 97.

The early designs of the coinage of Akragas remained consistent for nearly a century, depicting Zeus’ standing eagle on the obverse and a crab on the reverse. The fresh-water crab is a symbol of the Akragas river and an emblem of the city. This example has a die crack (obverse) and appears to be overstruck.
Nathan PJun 23, 2020
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Celtic, Eastern Europe (lower Danube region), Imitations of Philip III of Macedon. (3rd-2nd centuries BC)Tetradrachm

25mm, 16.56g

Obverse: Head of Heracles right, wearing lion's skin headdress.

Reverse: Zeus seated left; monograms before and below. ΦIΛIΠΠOY (of Philip) to right.

CCCBM I 185ff. Göbl OTA 579.
1 commentsNathan PJun 19, 2020
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Phoenicia, Arados. (Circa 172/1-111/0 BC). Dated CY 91 (169/8 BC).Drachm

18 mm, 3.98 g

Obverse: Bee; (qoppa)A (date, in monogram form - qoppa is 90, A is 1) to left, RE monogram to right

Reverse: Stag standing right; palm tree in background.

Duyrat 2706–17; HGC 10, 63; DCA 774.

Images of the bee as a symbol appear very early in the development of ancient Greek coinage. In particular, the prosperous city of Ephesus in Ionia (on the Aegean coast of Turkey) adopted the bee as its civic emblem. Ephesus was the location of a famous temple of the goddess Artemis (one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.) The high priest of the temple was known as the “king bee” (living in a fiercely patriarchal society, Greeks believed the queen bee was male) and the priestesses were called melissae (honeybees). There are nearly a thousand different known types of bee-and-stag coins from Ephesus, and unpublished new varieties appear frequently.

In 202 BC, Ephesus established an alliance with the Phoenician city of Arados (now Arwad, a small island off the Syrian coast south of Tartus). Arados later marked this event by adopting the bee and stag design for its coinage. Coins of Arados can be distinguished by the name of city ARADION, inscribed in Greek on the reverse. This alliance evidently continued for decades.
1 commentsNathan PApr 08, 2020
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Satraps of Caria. Hidrieus (Circa 351-344 BC)AR Tetradrachm

13.77 g

Obverse: Head of Apollo facing, turned slightly right, hair parted in center and swept to either side, drapery at neck

REverse: ΙΔΡΙΕΩΣ (IDRIEOS), Zeus Laubrandus advancing right, labrys in right hand over shoulder, spear in left; small E to right of feet.

SNG von Aulock 8046. SNG Lockett 2909.

As part of the Achaemenid Empire, Caria in the fourth century BC was under the rule of a family of semi-independent satraps known as the Hekatomnids after the dynasty's founder, Hekatomnos. Born in Mylasa, Hekatomnos was appointed satrap of Caria by the Persian king Artaxerxes II, ruler of the Achaemenid Empire . Interested in Hellenic culture (and possibly hedging his diplomatic bets), Hekatomnos sent his youngest son, Pixodaros, to Athens as part of a deputation; his older son, Maussolos, was bound by xenia, or guest friendship, with Agesilaus, king of Sparta. Hekatomnos died in 377/6 BC and was succeeded by Maussolos.

Hekatomnos second series of coinage has on the obverse the standing figure of the Carian Zeus of Labranda, carrying his distinctive double-ax, and on the reverse a lion with the name Hecatomnus above. Maussolos retained his father's type of the Carian Zeus but transferred it to the reverse of his coinage. For the obverse he chose a facing laureate head of Apollo. The immediate model for this type was the facing head of Helios on the Rhodian coinage; the choice was part of the policy of Hellenization in pursuit of which Maussolos built a new capital at Halicaranassus and commissioned for himself a monumental tomb created by leading Greek architects and sculptors. Known later as the Mausoleum, its size and elaborate decoration made it one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.The types of Maussolos' coinage were retained by his successors, who ruled in southwest Asia Minor until the arrival of Alexander - Hidrieus (351-344, the coin above), Pixodorus (340-334), and Rhoontopates (334-333).
Nathan PMar 27, 2020
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Persia, Achaemenid Empire. Xerxes II - Artaxerxes II. (Circa 420-375 BC) AR Siglos

16 mm, 5.56 g

Sardes or subsidiary mint.

Obverse: Persian king or hero in kneeling/running stance to right, holding spear and bow.

Reverse: Incuse punch.

BMC Arabia pl. XXIV passim. Carradice Type IIIb Group C

Type III Group C siglos exhibit a stylistic drapery with a broad semi-circular sweep of folds from the left knee back to the right heel and a large formal figure.
Nathan PMar 27, 2020
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Sicily, Syracuse. Hieron II (Circa 230-215 BC)AE26 (17.59g)

Obverse: Diademed head left

Reverse: (I)ERWNOS in exergue, warrior, holding couched lance, on horse prancing right; ΣΩ below.

CNS 195 R1 31; BAR issue 62; HGC 2, 1548.
1 commentsNathan PNov 18, 2019
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Cimmerian Bosporos, Pantikapaion. (Circa 340-325 BC.)Æ26.5 (14.67g )

Obverse: Wreathed head of Pan left

Reverse: Bow and arrow.

Anokhin 1022; MacDonald 59; HGC 7, 106.
Nathan PNov 15, 2019
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Bruttium, The Brettii. (Circa 211-208 BC.)Æ Unit – Drachm

21.5mm, 7.58 g

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right; thunderbolt to left

Reverse: Warrior advancing right, holding shield and spear; race torch to right.

Scheu, Bronze 43; HN Italy 1988.
Nathan PNov 15, 2019
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Persia, Achaemenid Empire. Darios I to Xerxes I. (Circa 505-480 BC) AR Siglos

14 mm, 5.38 g

Lydo-Milesian standard. Sardes mint.

Obverse: Persian king or hero, wearing kidaris and kandys, quiver over shoulder, in kneeling-running stance right, drawing bow

Reverse: Incuse punch

Carradice Type II (pl. XI, 12); Meadows, Administration 320; BMC Arabia pl. XXVII, 23; Sunrise 21.

From the Baldwin Maull Collection, purchased 1950s-early 1960s.

The Persians eventual adoption of coinage was related to their conquests of Lydia and then to their conflicts with the Greek city states in the sixth through fourth centuries BC. During these wars, the Persians employed Greek mercenaries, who were accustomed to receiving payment in coinage.

The Persians issued silver sigloi and gold darics (20:1 value) with only a few basic designs. The type of siglos above (Type II), with the full-length king drawing a bow, is attributed to the period 510-480 BC and the third Persian King after Cyrus the Great, Darius I the Great, who is thought to be the human figure represented on the coin.

In general it seems that the circulation patterns of darics and sigloi were fundamentally different – so far there is no single known hoard in which the two types of coins have occurred together. Darics circulated widely and were likely used for the payment of governmental, military (1 per month for the average soldier) and diplomatic expenses. Moreover, once they entered circulation, they would have been readily accepted as bullion anywhere. As the Greeks themselves hardly struck any gold, the daric was almost free of competition on the coin market in its time.

In contrast, hoards of sigloi have been found almost exclusively in the westernmost Persian territories — the central, coastal regions of modern Turkey. From the beginning, sigloi were primarily used for local needs. In international trade the small, relatively unattractive siglos hardly had a chance against the superior Greek competitors, and even the Greek mercenaries serving in Persian service increasingly refused to accept it.

The Persian’s primary mint was certainly Sardes (the mint of the former Lydian kings as well), the seat of the Achaemenid administration for the whole of Asia Minor. As the leading administrative center, Sardes must also have been the collection point for the annual tribute payments from the provinces of Asia Minor, thus ensuring a sufficient supply of precious metals for mint production there.
1 commentsNathan PSep 25, 2019
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Phoenicia, Arados. Uncertain king. Circa 420-350 BC.AR Shekel

18.5 mm, 10.45 g

Obverse: Laureate head of Ba'al-Arwad? right, with frontal eye

Reverse: Galley right above waves with row of shields along the bulwark; M A (in Aramaic) above;

E&E-A Group III.1.1; HGC 10, 28.

Settled in the 2nd millennium BC by the Phoenicians, Arados (Greek name) was located three kilometers off the Syrian shore between Lattaquie and Tripolis. Under Phoenician control, it became an independent kingdom called Arvad or Jazirat (the latter term meaning "island"). The island was a barren rock covered with fortifications and houses several stories in height. Just 800m long by 500m wide, it was surrounded by a massive wall with an artificial harbor constructed on the east toward the mainland.

Like most of the Phoenician cities on this coast, it developed into a trading city. Arados had a powerful navy, and its ships are mentioned in the monuments of Egypt and Assyria. In ancient times, it was in turn subject to the Egyptians, Assyrians, and then Persians (539 BC). But local dynasts were maintained until Straton, son of Gerostratos, king of Arados, submitted to Alexander the Great in 333 B.C.

The earliest coins of Arados (430-410 BC) depict a marine deity, human to the waist, bearded with plaited hair, with the lower body of a fish. Scholars aren't sure exactly who this deity is. Some believe the merman is Dagôn, associated with being the god of grain in the middle Euphrates and old Babylonia. Another option is Yamm (Yam), an ancient god from the semitic word meaning sea. He was worshipped by the semitic religions including Phoenicia and the Canaanites. Today, Elavi and Elayi's (2005) identification of the deity as Ba’al Arwad - a local manifestation of the ubiquitous Semitic god of weather and fertility - seems to be the most commonly accepted interpretation. In later Aradian coinage (like the example above) a Hellenized depiction of the deity’s head replaces the half-man, half-fish figure.

Most Aradian coins bear the same two Phoenician letters mem (M) and aleph (A or ´). In addition, during the first half of the fourth century (until 333 BC), the inscription M A was followed by a letter, some eight or nine in total. The most logical option is that this third letter represents different Aradian kings. This, plus parallels with contemporary Salaminian coinage, suggests that M A stands for “King” of Arwad rather than “Kingdom” (the more common interpretation). Because the coin above lacks a third letter designating a specific king, it’s most likely an earlier example. On the other hand, the more Hellenized portrait argues for a later date.
Nathan PSep 24, 2019
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Satraps of Caria. Hekatomnos (Circa 392/1-377/6 BC)AR Tetradrachm

25 mm, 14.90 g

Obverse: Zeus Labraundos standing right, holding labrys over his right shoulder and long scepter in his left.

Reverse: EKATOMNΩ, Lion at bay to right.

Hecatomnus 16. Karl 3. SNG von Aulock 2354.

Hecatomnos was the son of Hyssaldomus, the local ruler of Mylasa, a town in Caria (a region on the SW coast of Turkey). In 392 or 391, the Persian king Artaxerxes II appointed Hecatomnos as satrap of that part of the Achaemenid Empire and later awarded him the overlordship of the city of Miletus, the largest Greek settlement in Asia Minor. Hecatomnos seems to have been fascinated by Greek culture, and on one occasion sent his youngest son Pixodarus to Athens. Hecatomnos died in 377/376 and was succeeded by his son Maussolus (builder of the Mausoleum of Maussollos). His house was to rule Caria for another half century.

In many ways, not least in their coinage, the Hekatomnids were the forerunners of Hellenistic kings. They were unique in that period in issuing a regular and prolific dynastic coinage, which remained practically unchanged until the arrival of Alexander the Great. Other satraps struck coins, but none was hereditary and there was no continuity of coinage from one family member to another as was the case with the Hekatomnids.

The tetradrachm series above was a type that remained in use virtually unchanged throughout the coinage of the Hekatomnids. On the obverse is the figure of Zeus Labraundos, bearded and laureate, standing to the right, wearing a himation, and holding a spear pointing downward in one hand and a labrys (double-axe) in the other. This was a potent image, sacred to all Carians by virtue of the importance of the sanctuary of Labraunda (literally, “place of the sacred labrys”). This image of Zeus, with a very Greek looking appearance, remained virtually unchanged throughout the different issues that were minted over a period of about half a century – perhaps suggesting that the coin design was modelled after the actual statue of Zeus at Labraunda.

The reverse of the tetradrachm depicts a lion standing to the left, roaring, its back legs straight and front legs bent, almost parallel to the ground line. Comparable lion postures are found on some contemporary Cypriot issues and on the 5th century BC diobol coinage of Miletos (most likely the Hekatomnids’ inspiration).
2 commentsNathan PSep 10, 2019
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Attica, Athens. (Circa 475-465 BC)AR Tetradrachm

24 mm, 17.19 g

Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right

Reverse: Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig to left; all within incuse square.

Starr Group IV, HGC 4, 1595. Test cut on reverse.

Chester Starr arranged Athens' coinage from ca. 480 until the mid 5th century into five groups, and his chronology is still widely accepted today (although the dating of the final groups is now considered too late). The style of the "transitional" Athenian tetradrachms from the late 470s through the early 450s B.C. – Starr's groups II through V – is considered the high mark of Athenian coinage. By the time of Starr's Group IV, production of tetradrachms had steadily increased and the uptick in the number of required dies (and engravers) necessitated a greater standardization of style. On the obverse, the head of Athena changes little from Starr's Group III – the goddess has a bold profile and retains her "archaic smile"; the hair on her forehead is arranged in two waves, with a small bend above the eye; and on her helmet, her leaves float above the visor (sometimes referred to as a "laurel wreath," these leaves were first introduced after the victory over the Persians in 480/79 BC). One difference from Group III is the helmet's palmette, which goes from pointing to the adjacent olive leaf to more parallel. On the reverse, the back leg of the Group IV's owl often stretches further back and the tail feather no longer touches the rear claw.
1 commentsNathan PAug 02, 2019
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Cimmerian Bosporos. Pantikapaion. (Circa 310-304/3 BC.)AE20 (6.83 g)

Obverse: Bearded head of satyr or Pan right
Reverse: Forepart of griffin left; below, sturgeon left.

Anokhin 1023; MacDonald 69; HGC 7, 113.
1 commentsNathan PAug 01, 2019
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Thessaly, Larissa (Circa 356-342 BC)AR Drachm

18mm, 5.83g

Obverse: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly left, hair in ampyx, wearing necklace

Reverse: Horse standing right, preparing to lie down.

BCD Thessaly 1154-7; SNG Copenhagen 120.
1 commentsNathan PJul 31, 2019
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Carthage, Second Punic War (220-215 BC)AE Trishekel

29 mm, 18.21 g

Obverse: Head of Tanit left, wearing wreath of grain ears and single-pendant earring

Reverse: Horse standing right; palm tree in background to left.

MAA 84; Müller, Afrique 147; SNG Copenhagen 344.

The Second Punic War formally began when the Carthaginian general Hannibal and his army crossed the Alps in November of 218 BC and descended into Northern Italy. Battles raged on Italian soil for nearly 15 years until Hannibal and what remained of his army sailed for North Africa in the summer or fall of 203 BC. Shown above is a typical example of what would have been a lower-value coin issued by the Carthaginians in the early stages of the war.

Carthage was a Phoenician colony, and as such the Carthaginians were related to the Hebrews and the Canaanites (among others). Culturally they had much in common, including the use of the shekel as the primary unit of money. Likewise, the Carthaginians worshipped a variety of deities from the ancient Middle East. One in particular was the goddess Tanit. A Phoenician (Punic) goddess of war, Tanit was also a virgin mother goddess and a fertility symbol.
2 commentsNathan PJul 17, 2019
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Attica, Athens. (Circa 454-449 BC)AR Tetradrachm

25 mm, 17.20 g

This is a transitional Owl tetradrachm that bridges the early classical owls (minted from 478-454) with the subsequent mass classical (standardized) coinage, which really got going in the early 440s BC to finance Pericles' building projects like the Parthenon and then later the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) vs. Sparta. The 454 date is critical in that it was the year that Athens moved the treasury of the Delian league (confederation of Greek states led by Athens to defend against the Persian threat) from Delos to Athens.

This coin shares many attributes of Starr V early classical coinage (465-454 BC). On the obverse, the olive leaves on Athena's helmet connect to her diadem with small stems (which disappear in the mass coinage). In addition, the palmette leaves on Athena's helmet are smaller, less decorative, and more realistic. Finally, Athena is smiling (she starts to frown as the war with Sparta goes badly) and is more beautifully depicted than in the more hastily produced mass coinage.

On the reverse, like with the Starr V coins, the incuse is quite noticeable and the AOE (short for AOENAION, or "Of the Athenians") is written in smaller letters (they are much bigger in the mass coinage). Also, the owl is stouter, has smaller eyes, and his head is at an angle rather than parallel to the ground like all later issues.

The only difference between the Starr V owls and this example is in the owl's tail - in Starr V it ends with three small feathers. On this coin and all subsequent coinage the owl's tail ends in a single prong. Given all the other similarities to Starr V it is likely this coin was minted soon after the Treasury's move from Delos to Athens - perhaps 454/453.
2 commentsNathan PJul 01, 2019
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Sicily, Syracuse. Pyrrhus (Circa 278-275 BC)AE 23mm, 11.43 g

Obverse: Head of Heracles l., wearing lion's headdress; in r. field, cornucopiae.

Rev. Athena Promachos standing r., holding spear and shield; in l. field, thunderbolt.

SNG Copenhagen 811. Calciati 177.

Pyrrhus was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians (west coast of Greece) and later became king of Epirus. One of the greatest military commanders of the ancient world, Pyrrhus took a large army to southern Italy at the behest of the Greek colony of Tarentum in their war against Rome. With his superior cavalry, deadly phalanx, and 20 elephants, Pyrrhus defeated the Romans in a succession of battles but at great cost. After a victory at Apulia (279 BC) where Pyrrhus lost 3,500 men including many officers, he famously commented that, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined." It is from this semi-legendary event that the term Pyrrhic victory originates.

In 278 BC, the Greek cities in Sicily asked Pyrrhus to help drive out Carthage, which along with Rome was one of the two great powers of the Western Mediterranean. While successful, his request for manpower and money from the Sicilians for a fleet to blockade Carthage’s final stronghold was met with resistance, forcing Pyrrhus to proclaim a military dictatorship of Sicily and install military garrisons in Sicilian cities. These actions were deeply unpopular and with Sicily growing increasingly hostile to Pyrrhus, he abandoned Sicily and returned to Italy to fight another inconclusive battle against the Romans. Pyrrhus soon ended his campaign in Italy and returned to Epirus.

In 274 BC he captured the Macedonian throne in a battle against Antigonus Gonatus II. But two years later while storming the city of Argos, Pyrrhus was killed in a confused battle at night in the narrow city streets. While fighting an Argive soldier, the soldier's mother, who was watching from a rooftop, threw a tile which knocked Pyrrhus from his horse and broke part of his spine, paralyzing him. His death was assured after a soldier beheaded his motionless body.

Athena Promachos ("Athena who fights in the front line") was a colossal bronze statue of Athena. Erected around 456 BC in Athens, the Athena Promachos likely memorialized the Persian Wars. The very first specific archaistic Athena Promachos coin image was depicted on coins that were issued by Alexander the Great in 326 BC. Ten years later, the Athena Promachos appeared on coins issued by Ptolemy in Alexandria. Pyrrhus' alliance with Ptolemy (I and II) and admiration of Alexander the Great (they were second cousins) undoubtedly inspired the design of this coin with Heracles on obverse (like Alexander's coins) and Athena Promachos on the reverse.
2 commentsNathan PMay 13, 2019
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Lucania, Metapontion (Circa 540-510 BC).AR Nomos

28 mm, 7.82 g

Obv: META.
Barley ear.
Rev: Incuse barley ear.

Noe Class VI; HN Italy 1479.

Metaponion's neighbor, Sybaris, given its preeminence in the region, was most likely the originator of the incuse fabric. It seems to have been a spontaneous invention and to have been evolved without any evolutionary development. Of interest is that these coins have seldom or never been found in hoards unearthed outside Italy. This carries the suggestion that the consideration of preventing the export of money and, consequently, of restricting its circulation to South Italy must have been prominent in the minds of those responsible for originating the form. These incuse pieces are also rarely found overstruck and are significantly more difficult to counterfeit.
4 commentsNathan PMay 08, 2019
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Lucania, Sybaris (Circa 550-510 BC)AR Stater

29 mm, 8.14 g

Obverse: VM in exergue; bull standing left, head reverted.

Reverse : Incuse bull standing right, head reverted.

HN Italy 1729; SNG ANS 828-844

An Achaean colony dating from about 720 BC, Sybaris rapidly grew to be the wealthiest city in the area. The luxury enjoyed by its population was proverbial, hence the modern words sybarite and sybaritic. The bull may symbolize the local river god Krathis. The archaic coinage of Sybaris was brought to an abrupt end in 510 BC when the city was destroyed by the rival state of Kroton. The waters of the Krathis were diverted to flow over the site of the sacked city, thus obliterating all trace of its former splendor.
2 commentsNathan PMar 20, 2019
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Celtic Britain, Durotriges (Circa 58 BC-45 AD)Stater, Abstract (Cranborne Chase) type

5.26g

Obverse: Devolved head of Apollo right

Reverse: Disjointed horse left; pellets above, [pellet below], pellet in lozenge above tail, [zigzag and pellet pattern between two parallel exergue lines].

Van Arsdell 1235-1; BMC 2525-54.

The Durotriges ("dwellers by the water" or, perhaps, "water-rat kings") were well known for their continental trade and hill forts. They were the only tribe who did not add inscriptions to their coins, perhaps indicative of decentralized rule among multiple hill-fort based tribes using a common currency, and the only tribe to strike a stater in silver.

The history of the Durotriges can be divided into two broad phases, an early phase, roughly 100-60 B.C. and a late phase from 60 B.C. until the Roman conquest. The early phase was a time of rapid development brought about by overseas trade, while the late phase was a time of retraction, isolation and economic impoverishment. The economic decline is dramatically portrayed by the progressive debasement of their coinage, particularly when you compare the magnificent white-gold Craborne Chase staters of ca. 50-40 B.C. with the crude cast bronze Hengistbury coins of ca. A.D. 10-43.

The Durotriges resisted Roman invasion in AD 43, and the historian Suetonius records some fights between the tribe and the second legion Augusta, then commanded by Vespasian. By 70 AD, the tribe was already Romanised and securely included in the Roman province of Britannia.
2 commentsNathan PMar 13, 2019
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Kings of Macedon. Alexander III ‘The Great’, (Circa 332-323 BC)AR Tetradrachm

26 mm, 17.21 g

Salamis, struck under Nikokreon.

Obverse: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.

Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY Zeus seated left on low throne, holding long scepter in his left hand and eagle standing right with closed wings in his right; to left, bow.

Price 3139.

Nikokreon succeeded Pnytagoras on the throne of Salamis (Cyprus) and is reported to have paid homage to Alexander after the conqueror’s return from Egypt to Tyre in 331. In the war between Antigonos and Ptolemy (315), Nikokreon supported the latter and was rewarded by being placed in control of all Cyprus. He was the last of the Teucridai to rule in Salamis (upon his death in 310 BC, the city came under the rule of Ptolemy’s brother, Menelaos).

The Teucridai were kings of Salamis who claimed descent from Teucer, the mythical founder of the city. The bow in left field on the reverse undoubtedly references Teucer's fame as a great archer, who loosed his shafts from behind the giant shield of his half-brother Ajax the Great during the Trojan War.
2 commentsNathan PFeb 25, 2019
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Kings of Macedon. Antigonos I Monophthalmos (Circa 310-301 BC)AR Drachm

18 mm, 4.22g

Struck in the name and types of Alexander III. Abydos(?)

Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress

Reverse: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left, holding sceptre; head of Ammon right in left field, ivy-leaf beneath throne, AΛEΞANΔPOY to right.

Price 1551; SNG Copenhagen 970
Nathan PFeb 08, 2019
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Bruttium, Kroton (Circa 530-500 BC)AR Nomos

28 mm, 7.82 g

Obverse: Tripod, legs surmounted by wreaths and terminating in lion's feet, two serpents rising from the bowl, set on basis of three lines, the center dotted, koppa-P-O (KRO - short for Kroton) to left

Reverse: Incuse tripod as obverse, but wreaths and serpents in outline.

HN Italy 2075; SNG ANS 231; Bement 272.

The importance of the Delphic oracle to the founding of Kroton was celebrated on its coinage from the earliest days. Despite later myths ascribing the founding of Kroton to Herakles, the city's historical oikist is recorded as Myskellos of Rhypai who, on consulting the Delphic oracle about his lack of children was given the response that Apollo would grant children, but that first Myskellos should found the city of Kroton 'among fair fields'. After being given directions on how to locate the site, Myskellos travelled to southern Italy to explore the land that he had been assigned, but seeing the territory of the Sybarites and thinking it superior, he returned once more to the oracle to ask whether he would be allowed to change. The answer came back that he should accept the gifts that the god gave him. A further element of the story is that Myskellos was accompanied on his expedition by Archias of Corinth; the Delphic oracle gave the pair the choice between health and wealth. Archias elected wealth, and was assigned the site of Syracuse, while Myskellos chose health: the favourable climate of Kroton, the eminent skill of its physicians and the prowess of its athletes later earned its citizens this reputation for good health.
1 commentsNathan PJan 30, 2019
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Lucania, Velia (Circa 440-400 BC)AR Didrachm

20 mm, 7.68 g

Obverse: Head of Athena l., wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with griffin and laurel wreath; Φ to r.

Reverse: Lion attacking stag; [Y]EL-HT-EW-N

Williams 159; HNItaly 1270; SNG ANS 1261. VF

The type of lion and its prey goes back to the earliest Velian drachms brought by its original Phocaean settlers from Asia Minor; in various forms the type is common in the East Greek and Persian world and may have originally represented the triumph of light over darkness or of the king over his enemies.
2 commentsNathan PJan 13, 2019
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Kings of Macedon. Alexander III 'The Great', (Circa 325-323 BC)AR Tetradrachm

25 mm, 17.18 g

Babylon mint. struck under Stamenes or Archon.

Obverse: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress, paws tied beneath chin.

Reverse: [Α]ΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΥ, Zeus seated left on high-backed throne, his feet resting on a low foot rest, holding long scepter in his left hand and, in his right, eagle standing right with closed wings, in left field, trident above M, monogram beneath throne.

Price 3635; Newell "Reattribution" 227
Nathan PDec 30, 2018
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Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. Alexandria. Ptolemy I Soter (Circa 305-282 BC)AR Tetradrachm

26.5 mm, 13.25 g

Obverse: Diademed head of Ptolemy I right

Reverse: ΠTOΛEMAIOY BAΣIΛEΩΣ, eagle standing left on thunderbolt, wings closed; P / AΠP monogram.

Svoronos 255
2 commentsNathan PDec 11, 2018
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Sicily, Syracuse. Second Democracy(Circa 415-405 BC)Hemilitron

16mm, 3.82 g

Obverse: Head of Arethusa to left, hair in sphendone.

Rev. ΣY-PA Wheel of four spokes, dolphins in lower quarters.

CNS 22. SNG ANS 404-410.

Arethusa was a naiad (a water nymph) who frolicked in the vicinity of Olympia and was desired and pursued by the river-god Alpheios. She appealed for assistance from Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt and the protector of women. Aretemis transformed her into an underground stream emerging as a freshwater spring on the Sicilian island of Ortygia, the future site of Syracuse. Undaunted, Alpheios diverted his river’s flow underground to follow Arethusa, and both of their waters now mingle eternally in the Fountain of Arethusa in Ortygia. Arethusa’s image on coins is usually accompanied by dolphins, which were common in the sea around Ortygia in classical times.
Nathan PDec 11, 2018
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Pontos, Amisos (as Peiraieos). (Circa 435-370 BC)AR Siglos

17 mm, 5.75 g

Persic standard. Aristeos, magistrate.

Obverse: Head of Hera left, wearing ornate stephane, earring, and necklace

Reverse: [ΠEIPA] in exergue, owl with spread wings standing facing on shield; across field in to lines, magistrate's name: A-PIΣ/TE-OΣ.

Malloy 1v; HGC 7, 229.

Amisos, situated on the southern shore of the Black Sea, was originally settled by the Milesians, perhaps as far back as the 8th century BC. The city was captured by the Persians in 550 BC and became part of Cappadocia (satrapy). In the 5th century BC, Amisos became a free state and one of the members of the Delian League led by the Athenians; it was then renamed Peiraieos under Pericles. In the 4th century BC the city came under the control of the Kingdom of Pontus.
2 commentsNathan PDec 10, 2018
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Pontos. Amisos (Circa 85-65 BC)Bronze AE

30mm, 19.53 g

Struck under Mithradates VI.

Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right

Reverse: Perseus standing facing, holding harpa and head of Medusa; body of Medusa at feet, monograms to left and right.

HGC 7, 238

This coin depicts two figures from the legend of Medusa, who was once a beautiful young maiden who dared to challenge Athena's beauty. As punishment for her impiety, Medusa’s hair was turned into hissing serpents and condemned to turn every living thing which gazed upon her to turn to stone. Perseus, son of Zeus and the mortal Danae, was given the task of slaying this monster. He was aided, in part, by Athena who gave her shield to him for the task. In the context of the period which this coin is from, Perseus and Medusa could be representations of Mithradates VI and Rome, respectively.
1 commentsNathan PNov 28, 2018
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Gaul, Northwest. Coriosolites (57-52 BC)BI Stater

5.36 g

Obverse: Celticized head right, hair in large spiral curls, S-like ear; pearl strings flowing around

Reverse: Devolved charioteer driving biga right; ornaments around; below, boar right.

DT 2329; Slg. Flesche - (vgl. 198)

The Coriosolites (one among a number of tribes in the area) inhabited a region called Armorica in what is now northwest France. They were a mixture of Celts who had fled Germanic incursions across the Rhine and the original inhabitants of Armorica, a place where customs and beliefs of the megalithic age still lingered on.

The Coriosolite coinage appears to have constituted a confederate currency, manufactured at the time of the Gallic Wars between 57 BC, the date of the revolt of the Armoricans and 51 BC, the end of the war of the Gauls. For the Armoricans, the war began with invasion by the Roman General Crassus, who subjugated the tribes by fighting each individually and taking hostages. The Celts then formed an alliance to more effectively fight Rome and captured envoys sent by Rome to serve as their own hostages.

Aware of their efforts, Caesar sent three legions under Sabinus who routed the Celts. No more battles were fought in Armorica, but the Armorican resistance continued; some of the population, unwilling to live under Roman rule, banded together and hid in remote areas. Twenty thousand Armoricans (including many Coriosolites) were among the forces that attempted to relieve Vercingetorix at the siege of Alesia in 52 BC.

J.-B. Colbert de Beaulieu defined six classes of Coriosolite coinage. This coin is in Class VI, defined by a nose shaped like a backward 2 on the obverse and, on the reverse, a symbol resembling a ladder on its side in front of a pony with a boar underneath. John Hooker identifies five coin types within Group VI. The coin above is most likely the fifth type (evidenced by the placement of the curl at the bottom of the horse's mane on the reverse). While 1-3 types in Class VI are among the earliest Coriosolite coins (perhaps even preceding the Gallic wars), Hooker asserts that, based on the style of the driver's body on the reverse, types 4 and 5 may have been minted just prior to the forming of the Celtic coalition and capture of the Roman envoys.
1 commentsNathan PNov 22, 2018
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Pamphylia, Side (Circa 145-125BC)AR Tetradrachm

29 mm, 15.94 g

Kleuch-, magistrate.

Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena right.

Reverse: ΚΛΕ - ΥΧ, Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate to left.

SNG BN 697.

In 333 BC, Alexander the Great occupied Side and introduced the population to Hellenistic culture, which became the dominant tradition until the 1st century BC. Ptolemy later overtook the city when he declared himself king of Egypt in 305 BC. Side stayed under Ptolemaic control until it was captured by the Seleucid Empire in the 2nd century BC. In 190 B.C., however, a fleet from Rhodes, supported by Rome and Pergamum, defeated the Seleucid fleet, which was under the command of the fugitive Carthaginian general, Hannibal (who was unskilled in naval warfare, but to his credit still almost won the battle). The Seleucid defeat solidified by the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC), left Side in an uncertain state of autonomy during which it minted its own money. This lasted until 36 BC when the city came under the rule of the Roman client King of Galatia, Amyntas.
2 commentsNathan PNov 06, 2018
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Kings of Thrace. Lysimachos. (Circa 297-281)AR Tetradrachm

16.04 g

Magnesia mint.

Obverse: Diademed head of the deified Alexander right, with horn of Ammon

Reverse: Athena Nikephoros seated left, left arm resting on shield, spear behind; filleted torch to outer left, monogram to inner left.

Thompson 115; HGC 3, 1743

Among the mints in Asia Minor which Lysimachos acquired through his military conquests in 302/1 BC, Magnesia was a fairly prolific issuer of coinage. In 287 BC, however, the city, along with its neighbor, Sardes, was captured by Demetrios I Poliorketes, only to be retaken by Lysimachos the following year. While Sardes was apparently closed throughout the remainder of Lysimachos’ reign, the mint at Magnesia was allowed to continue striking.
2 commentsNathan POct 22, 2018
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Lokris Opuntii (Circa 369-338 BC)AR Triobol

16 mm, 2.61 g

Obverse: Wreathed head of Persephone right

Reverse: [O]ΠONTIΩN; Ajax, nude but for crested Corinthian helmet, advancing right, holding sword in right hand, shield decorated with serpent on left arm; kantharos below.

BCD Lokris 99; SNG Copenhagen 50

Opuntian Lokris consisted of a narrow slip upon the eastern coast of central Greece, from the pass of Thermopylae to the mouth of the river Cephissus. In the Persian War the Opuntian Lokrians fought with Leonidas at the Battle of Thermopylae, and also sent seven ships to the Greek fleet. The Lokrians fought on the side of Sparta in the Peloponnesian War.

Ajax of Lokris (or Ajax 'the Lesser'), depicted on this coin’s reverse, supposedly led a fleet of forty ships from Lokris Opuntii against Troy in the Greeks' great war on that city. At Troy's fall, he was alleged by Odysseus to have violated a sanctuary of Athena by ravishing Cassandra, who had sought refuge there. He thus brought down the wrath of Athena upon himself and his countrymen: Ajax himself was wrecked and killed in a storm as he made his way home from the war, and the rest of the Opuntians reached home only with great difficulty. Nevertheless, they annually honoured their former leader by launching a ship fitted with black sails and laden with gifts, which they then set alight, and whenever the Lokrian army drew up for battle, one place was always left open for Ajax, whose spirit they believed would stand and fight with them.
3 commentsNathan POct 15, 2018
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Cilicia, Tarsos. Tarkumuwa (Datames), Satrap of Cilicia and Cappadocia. (Circa 378-372 BC)AR Stater

23 mm, 10.28 g

Obverse: Diademed female head facing slightly to left, wearing pendant earrings and necklace.

Reverse: 𐡕𐡓𐡃𐡌𐡅 ('trkmw' in Aramaic) Bearded head of Ares (?) to left, wearing crested Attic helmet.

Casabonne type 1. SNG Levante 80. SNG Paris 276-277.

Datames (407-362 BC) served as a member of the Persian king's (Artaxerxes II - 405-359 BC) bodyguard before he became satrap of Cilicia and Cappadocia upon his father's death in battle in 384 BC. After many successes, the Persian king placed him in charge of the second war against Egypt, along with Pharnabazos and Tithraustes, satrap of Caria.

To pay their armies for these expeditions, both satraps minted near-identical coins, distinguished only by their inscriptions. The reverse of these coins may show a representation of Ares, the Greek god of war. The facing head of an unidentifiable female deity (Aphrodite, the wife of Ares?) on the obverse is clearly influenced by the famous representations of the nymph Arethusa created by the artist Kimon for the coins of Syracuse. Both designs were probably meant to appeal to the thousands of Greek mercenaries that each Persian satrap hired for their Egyptian campaigns.

Datames was first, however, detained by a local revolt in Kataonia, a territory within his satrapy. This time, his success incurred the king's jealousy, and he was removed both from his command of the Egyptian expedition as well as the rule of his satrapy. Refusing to relinquish his authority, Datames himself revolted and became a virtually independent ruler. His initial success in this endeavor prompted the revolt of other satraps across the empire. Datames' success, however, was short-lived. Distrust among the satraps rendered them unable to cooperate, their rebellion disintegrated, and Datames himself was assassinated in 362 BC.
3 commentsNathan POct 05, 2018
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Bruttium, Kroton (Circa 425-350 BC)AR Stater

7.73 g

Obverse: Eagle standing left, head right, on stag’s head

Reverse: Tripod; ivy leaf to left, QPO to right.

HN Italy 2146; SNG ANS 351-2

Obeying a directive of the oracle of Delphi, A group of Achaean settlers founded Kroton around 710 BC. Like its neighbor to the north, Sybaris, it soon became a city of power and wealth. Kroton was especially celebrated for its successes in the Olympic Games from 588 BC onward (Milo of Kroton being the most famous of its athletes).

The philosopher Pythagoras established himself there about 530 BC and formed a society of 300 disciples who were sympathetic toward aristocratic government. In 510 BC Kroton was strong enough to defeat the Sybarites and raze their city to the ground. However, shortly after the sack of Sybaris the disciples of Pythagoras were driven out, and a democracy established.

The obverse was comparable with similar types on probably contemporary coins from Elis (which put on the Olympic games at the nearby sanctuary of Olympia) The coins of both cities were thus likely issued for athletic festivals in honor of Zeus. In Kroton’s case the coins probably commemorated its citizens’ Olympic victories with the eagle representing Zeus who presided over Olympia and the games themselves. The tripod (reverse) represented the divine sanction for the town's founding from the Oracle of Delphi (who sat on a three legged stool when producing her oracles).
2 commentsNathan POct 03, 2018
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Thrace. Thasos (Circa 480-463 BC)AR Stater

22 mm, 8.44 g

Obverse: Ithyphallic satyr advancing right, carrying off protesting nymph.
Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square.

Le Rider, Thasiennes, 5; SNG Copenhagen 1010-2; HGC 6, 331.

Both location and mineral riches aided the thriving economy of the North Aegean island of Thasos. According to Herodotos (VI, 46), the city derived 200-300 talents annually from her exploitation of its local silver mines as well as mines controlled on the Thracian mainland opposite the island city-state. Additionally, Thasos gained much material wealth as a producer and exporter of high quality wines, and it was perhaps due to this trade in wine that her coinage spread throughout the Aegean making it a widely recognized and accepted coinage in distant lands.

Thracians for the most part were illiterate, with no alphabet of their own and no written history or literature. Aristotle, though no doubt exaggerating, wrote that Thracians were unable to count beyond four. What we know about Thracians is largely through the prism of what the Greeks and Romans have written and from archeological findings (including coins). We know they were fiercely independent, powerful, and feared, excelling in warfare, horsemanship, and metalwork. Thracians regarded war and plunder as the noblest way of life. Another ancient Greek philosopher, Xenophanes, described Thracians as being "large, powerfully built men," with "a skin white, delicate and cold," and "largely red-haired." Among the noteworthy Thracians of history are thought to be the gladiator Spartacus and the fable-writer Aesop.

The motif of the satyr abducting a maenad appears on several northern Greek coins. In the case of Thasos, this Dionysiac motif served to promote the island's famous wine. Satyrs belong to the retinue of Dionysos (the god of wine) while maenads were the immortal female followers of Dionysos.

This particular series of coinage likely terminated with the capture of Thasos by Athens in 463 BC after its revolt two years earlier. The terms under which Thasos surrendered were harsh and involved the loss of most of her sources of revenue, except that from her famous wine.
1 commentsNathan PSep 06, 2018
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Sicily, Akragas. (Circa 425-406 BC)AE Tetras

19 mm, 7.6 g

Obverse: AKPA (AKRA) to left, eagle, head lowered, wings spread, standing right on hare

Reverse: Crab, beneath, three pellets (each representing 1/12 of the value of a Litra), in exergue, crayfish left.

CNS I. 178, 50; HGC 2, 140.

Akragas was a wealthy and powerful Greek state on the southern coast of Sicily, second only to Syracuse in importance. The city was famous for its lavish building projects, proudly displaying its wealth in the form of numerous massive temples, many of which still stand today.

The early designs of the coinage of Akragas remained consistent for nearly a century, depicting Zeus’ standing eagle on the obverse and a crab on the reverse. As their societies matured, the aristocratic rulers of Akragas and its surrounding cities became highly competitive in the artistic beauty of the coinage they produced, resulting in a flourishing numismatic arms race.

Around 415 BC, a dramatic shift took place, reinvigorating all denominations of their coinage. The designs became much more intricate, and the new coins have been ranked as some of the most beautiful coinage ever produced.

Unfortunately, the wealth of Akragas was not enough to protect it from the brutality of the Carthaginians, who sacked the city in 406 BC, an attack from which they never fully recovered and which put an abrupt end to this beautiful period of coinage.
1 commentsNathan PAug 17, 2018
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Kings of Macedon. Amphipolis. Philip II. 359-336 BC. (Circa 315-294 BC - Kassander)Tetradrachm

24 mm, 14.62 g

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right.

Reverse: ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ (FILIPPOU, "of Philip"). Youth, holding palm frond, riding horse right. Controls: Below horse, Λ above torch; dolphin right below raised foreleg.

SNG ANS 807; HGC 3.1, 988
Nathan PAug 01, 2018
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KINGS of PAEONIA. Patraos. (Circa 335-315 BC)AR Tetradrachm

23.5mm, 12.78 g

Astibos or Damastion mint.

Obverse: Laureate head of Apollo right

Reverse: Warrior on horse rearing right, thrusting spear held in his right hand at enemy below who defends with shield on his left arm. ΠΑΤΡΑΟΥ (PATRAOS)

Paeonian Hoard 479 (same dies); Peykov E2160 (same obv. die as illustration); NRBM Paeonia 40 (same obv. die); HGC 3, 148.

Phiip II of Macedon (359-336 BC) reduced the Paeonian kingdom to a semi-autonomous, subordinate status, which led to a process of gradual and formal Hellenization of the Paeonians, who, during Philip's reign, began to issue coins with Greek legends like the Macedonian ones. Paeonia was most likely still a subordinated kingdom at the beginning of Patraos' reign (340/35 - 315 BC), and at the time of Alexander’s Eastern campaign, the Paeonians were part of the Macedonian army with their light cavalry. In fact, at the battle of Gaugamela (331 BC), Ariston, the leader of the Paeonian cavalry and possibly the brother off Patraos was especially distinguishable, defeating Satropates, the commander of the Persian horseman. It is this victory that was likely the inspiration for the reverse iconography of Patraos tetradrachms.

Interestingly, though, on most of the coins the "Persian" horseman is represented as defending himself with a Macedonian shield, the appearance of which, obviously contains a certain message. There is no direct historical explanation, but the literary sources reveal that after the death of Alexander of Macedon in 323 BC, Antipater was positioned in Europe, being appointed strategus autocrator in charge of all Macedonians, Hellenes, Illyrians, Triballi, Agrianes and the people of Epirus. Notably, the Paeonians are not mentioned in this list, probably because Paeonia had regained its autonomy. Thus, the insertion of the Macedonian shield on the reverse was likely announcing the liberation of Paeonia from Macedonian sovereignty.

With regard to the coin iconography, it is notable that the cult of Apollo was predominant on Paeonian coins. Hesiod identified Paeon as an individual deity: "Unless Phoebus Apollo should save him from death, or Paean himself who knows the remedies for all things." In time, Paeon (more usually spelled Paean) became an epithet of Apollo, in his capacity as a god capable of bringing disease and therefore propitiated as a god of healing.

As discussed by Wayne Sayles in "Ancient Coin Collecting III, Numismatic Art of the Greek World," the obverse of this coin is minted in archaizing style, "with the frontal almond eye common to the art of a century earlier." This type was produced with both the archaic eye and the modern profile eye. "The contrast is not one of stylistic transition, but rather of artistic intention. In fact, the archaizing version seems to have been issued toward the end of the series."
Nathan PJul 18, 2018
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Eastern Europe. Imitation of Philip II of Macedon (Circa 200-0 BC)Tetradrachm (Kugelwange or "ball cheek" type)

20 mm, 11.46 g

Obverse: Stylized laureate head of Zeus right

Reverse: Stylized horse prancing left, pellet-in-annulet above, pelleted cross below.

Lanz 468-9; OTA 193/9.

Around the end of the 3rd century B.C., the Celtic Scordisci tribe started issuing their own local coinages imitating the types of Philip II of Macedon. These coinages had a limited volume of production and a restricted area of circulation, so their finds are not numerous and occur mostly in their own territory and in the neighboring territories of other Celtic or Celticized tribes. The Scordisci were originally formed after the Celtic invasion of Macedonia and Northern Greece (280-279 BC) which culminated in a great victory against the Greeks at Thermopylae and the sacking of Delphi, the center of the Greek world. The Celts then retreated back to the north of the Balkans (suffering many casualties along the way) and settled on the mouth of the Sava River calling themselves the Scordisci after the nearby Scordus (now Sar) mountains. The Scordisci, since they dominated the important Sava valley, the only route to Italy, in the second half of the 3rd century BC, gradually became the most powerful tribe in the central Balkans.

From 141 BC, the Scordisci were constantly involved in battles against Roman held Macedonia. They were defeated in 135 BC by Cosconius in Thrace. In 118 BC, according to a memorial stone discovered near Thessalonica, Sextus Pompeius, probably the grandfather of the triumvir, was slain fighting against them near Stobi. In 114 BC, they surprised and destroyed the army of Gaius Porcius Cato in the western mountains of Serbia, but were defeated by Minucius Rufus in 107 BC.

From time to time they still gave trouble to the Roman governors of Macedonia, whose territory they invaded, even advancing as far as Delphi for a second time and once again plundering the temple; but Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus finally overcame them in 88 BC and drove them back across the Danube. After this, the power of the Scordisci declined rapidly. This decline was more a result of the political situation in their surrounding territories rather than the effects of Roman campaigns, as their client tribes, especially the Pannonians, became more powerful and politically independent. Between 56 and 50 BC, the Scordisci were defeated by Burebista's Dacians (a Thracian king of the Getae and Dacian tribes), and became subject to him.
5 commentsNathan PJun 22, 2018
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Corinthia. Corinth (Circa 405-345 BC)AR Stater

19mm, 8.29g

Obverse: Pegasos flying right, below, Ϙ

Reverse:Head of Athena r., wearing Corinthian helmet; on left, aphlaston (upward curving stern of an ancient warship).

Pegasi 246/2; Ravel 652.
1 commentsNathan PJun 21, 2018
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Boeotia, Thebes. (Circa 425-400 BC.)AR Stater

23mm, 12.32 g

Obverse: Boeotian shield

Reverse: Amphora, ivy leaf hanging from right handle; Θ-E across lower field (short for ΘEBAIΩN or "Belonging to the People of Thebes"); all within concave circle.

BCD Boiotia 391; HGC 4, 1325.
Nathan PJun 05, 2018
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Campania, Neapolis. (Circa 300 BC)AR Didrachm

20 mm, 6.98 g

Obverse: Head of nymph r., wearing taenia, triple-pendant earring and necklace; four dolphins around (only the bottom two around the neck visible).

Reverse: Man-headed bull walking r., being crowned by Nike; ΘE below bull. [NE]OΠOΛI[TΩN] in exergue

Sambon 457; HNItaly 576; SNG ANS 336.

Neapolis was founded ca. 650 B.C. from Cumae (a nearby city and the first Greek colony on mainland Italy). Ancient tradition records that it had originally been named after the siren Parthenope, who had been washed ashore on the site after failing to capture Odysseus (Sil. Pun. 12.33-36). The early city, which was called Palae(o)polis, developed in the SW along the modern harbor area and included Pizzofalcone and Megaris (the Castel dell'Ovo), a small island in the harbor. Megaris itself may have been the site of a still older Rhodian trading colony (Strab. 14.2.10). Owing to the influx of Campanian immigrants, the town began to develop to the NE along a Hippodamian grid plan. This new extension was called Neapolis, while Palae(o)polis became a suburb. Incited to a war with Rome by the Greek elements, the city was captured in 326 B.C. by the proconsul Quintus Publilius Philo (Liv. 8.22.9), and the suburb ceased to exist. Neapolis then became a favored ally of the Romans; it repulsed Pyrrhos, contributed naval support during the First Punic War, and withstood the attacks of Hannibal.
Nathan PMay 25, 2018
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Sicily. Messana. The Mamertinoi. Ae Quadruple Unit (288-278 BC).27 mm, 19.38 g

Obverse: APEOΣ Laureate head of Ares to right; behind, helmet.

Reverse: MAMEPTINΩN Eagle standing to left on thunderbolt.

Calciati I, 92, 3. SNG ANS 402.

After the tyrant of Syracuse Agathocles died in 289 BC, the majority of his mercenaries became unemployed. Some bands dispersed but the Mamertines attempted to stay in Syracuse. Hailing from Campania (a region in southern Italy), perhaps related to the Samnites, the civilized Greeks did not take kindly to a large armed mob of uncultured barbaroi loitering around the Hellenistic center of Sicily. Barred from settling in Syracuse, these mercenaries headed north until they came across the town of Messana on the north-east tip of Sicily.

The city offered its hospitality to the band of mercenaries and in return the mercenaries slaughtered many of the men and leading figures of the city and claimed it for themselves. The women and possessions were split among the mercenaries as their own. It was at this time that the mercenaries seem to officially proclaim themselves as the Mamertines as they began to mint their own coinage. The name Mamertines means the sons of Mamers, Mamers being an Italic war god with the Latin equivalent of Mars. Soon afterwards, the Italian town of Rhegium suffered a similar fate.

With Messana and its sister city of Rhegium across the strait, the Mamertines held a commanding position in Sicily and the shipping routes that passed through the Strait of Messina. With Messana as a base of operations the Mamertines were able to plunder, pirate, and raid the surrounding countryside with considerable success. Syracuse was unable to react immediately due to its internal political disorder. This left Sicily split between Carthage in the west and disunited Greeks and Mamertines elsewhere.

When Hiero II of Syracuse attempted to dislodge the Mamertines in 265, they enlisted the aid of a nearby Carthaginian fleet, whose swift intervention forced Hiero to withdraw. The Mamertines soon regretted the Carthaginian occupation and appealed to Rome for protection, citing their status as Italians. Rome was hesitant to become entangled in a conflict outside of Italy or to come to the aid of the piratical Mamertines. Yet Rome's fear of a Carthaginian stronghold so close to Italy—and greed for plunder in what they assumed would be a short war against Syracuse—outweighed their concerns. The Romans invaded Sicily and marched to the Mamertines' aid.

When the Mamertines learned that the Romans were approaching, they persuaded the Carthaginian general to withdraw his forces from the city. The general, regretting this decision to abandon the city, took the fateful steps of allying with Hiero. The combined Carthaginian and Syracusan forces then besieged Messana. After attempts to negotiate a truce failed, Carthage and Rome began hostilities. Both sides were confident of a quick and decisive victory. Neither side anticipated the horror that was to come: a ferocious, generation-long war that would transform the Roman and Carthaginian empires, upend the balance of power in the western Mediterranean, and set the stage for Hannibal's avenging assault on Italy.
Nathan PMay 25, 2018
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Bruttium, The Brettii (Circa 211-208 BC)Æ Double Unit (Didrachm)

26 mm, 16.19 g

Obverse: Head of Ares left, wearing crested Corinthian helmet decorated with griffin

Reverse: BRET-TIWN, Hera Hoplosima (or Athena) advancing right, holding spear and shield; racing torch right.

Scheu 72; SNG ANS 82; HN Italy 1987

The Brettii were an indigenous Italian people who emerged in southern Italy in the mid-fourth century BC. Ancient authors describe them as a group of revolted slaves and miscellaneous fugitives who came together after seeking refuge in the rugged mountains of the area. Nonetheless, it is more likely that most of these people were native Oenotrians or Pelasgians who had escaped from domination by the Greek cities and other native groups to the north. By the mid-third century BC, this disparate congregation of people, now known as the Brettii, had become the predominant power over most of Italy south of the river Laos, including the important mints of Consentia, Medma, Hipponium, Terina, and Thurium (Diod. XVI.15; Strabo VI). Their rising power, however, was eventually checked by the expansion of Roman authority in their region. In the 280s BC, they united with their neighbors, the Lucanians, against Rome, an adventure that proved inconclusive. Soon thereafter, they aided Pyrrhos in his war against Rome, an unsuccessful endeavor that resulted in the Romans carrying on the conflict against the Brettians after defeating the Epiran leader. The Brettians submitted to the Romans, but in the face of Hannibal's successes against Rome, they again allied themselves with Rome's enemy during the Second Punic War (Livy XXII. 61). In this conflict, the Brettians were completely invested in the alliance with Carthage, such that the entire region of Bruttium became a veritable Punic fortress, and it was during this war that the entire series of Brettian coinage was struck. Once again, though, the Brettii had supported the losing side, and this time the Romans were determined to squash any further ability of the Brettians to threaten them. In the aftermath of Hannibal's defeat, the Romans subjugated Bruttium through annual military deployments and the establishment of three colonies, at Tempsa, Kroton, and Vibo Valentia (Livy XXXIV. 45 and XXXV. 40). Unlike other Italian populations that had been conquered by the Romans, the Brettii were also not admitted as Roman allies and could not serve in the Roman military (Appian, Annib. 61). Little is known of the Brettii thereafter.
1 commentsNathan PMay 24, 2018
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Sicily, "Kainon." Circa 360-340 BC.AE 21, 7.66 g

Obverse: Griffin springing left over grasshopper

Reverse: Horse prancing right, star above, over "KAINON" (the new coinage).

CNS 10; SNG ANS 1176 (Alaesa)

Not identifiable with a known city in Sicily, the Kainon issues have traditionally been attributed to Alaesa. They may also have been struck by mercenaries in the employ of Dione of Leontini.
Nathan PMay 24, 2018
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Kings of Thrace. Lysimachos. (Circa 305-281 B.C.)AE 18, 4.87 g

Obverse: Helmeted Head of Athena right

Reverse: BAΣIΛEΩΣ ΛYΣIMAXOY (Of King Lysimachos), lion leaping right, EAM monogram and caduceus in left field, spear head below.

SNG Copenhagen 1153-4; Müller 76

Lysimachos (360 BC – 281 BC) was a Macedonian officer and diadochus "successor" of Alexander the Great, who became a king in 306 BC, ruling Thrace, Asia Minor and Macedon. In 302 BC, when the second alliance between Cassander, Ptolemy and Seleucus was made, Lysimachus, reinforced by troops from Cassander, entered Asia Minor, where he met with little resistance. On the approach of Antigonus he retired into winter quarters near Heraclea, marrying its widowed queen Amastris, a Persian princess. Seleucus joined him in 301 BC, and at the Battle of Ipsus Antigonus was defeated and slain. Antigonus' dominions were divided among the victors. Lysimachus' share was Lydia, Ionia, Phrygia and the north coast of Asia Minor. He was later killed at the battle of Corupedium when fighting another of Alexander's successors, Seleucus, who ruled much of what was formerly Persia.
Nathan PMay 23, 2018
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Kings of Macedon. Philip II (Circa 359-336 BC)AE 16, 6.23 g

Obverse: Head of Apollo right

Reverse: "ΦIΛIΠΠOY" (FILIPPOY) above naked youth on horse right, theta p control mark below

SNG ANS 927

The rise of Macedon during the reign of Philip II was achieved in part by his reformation of the Ancient Macedonian army, establishing the Macedonian phalanx that proved critical in securing victories on the battlefield. After defeating Athens and Thebes at the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC, Philip II led the effort to establish a federation of Greek states known as the League of Corinth, with him as the elected hegemon and commander-in-chief of a planned invasion of the Achaemenid Empire of Persia. However, his assassination in 336 BC (perhaps orchestrated by one of his wives, Olympias, and son, Alexander the Great) led to the immediate succession of Alexander.
Nathan PMay 18, 2018
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Sicily, Kamarina. (Circa 410-405 BC)AE Tetras

14 mm, 2.7 g

Obverse: Facing gorgoneion.

Reverse: KAMA. Owl standing right, holding lizard; in exergue three pellets.

HGC 2, 546.

Kamarina was usually at odds with Syracuse but gave it some aid during Athens' disastrous Sicilian Expedition (415-413 BC) in the Peloponnesian War. The city was destroyed in 405 BC by Carthage. There is a (likely) myth told by the ancient Greek geographer/historian/philosopher, Strabo, that just before the Carthaginians razed Kamarina, the Kamarinians were plagued by a mysterious disease. The marsh of Kamarina had protected the city from its hostile neighbors to the north. It was suspected that the marsh was the source of the strange illness and the idea of draining the marsh to end the epidemic became popular. The town oracle advised the leaders not to drain the marsh, suggesting the plague would pass with time. But the discontent was widespread and the leaders opted to drain the marsh against the oracle's advice. Once it was dry, there was nothing stopping the Carthaginian army from advancing. They marched across the newly drained marsh and razed the city, killing every last inhabitant." Despite Strabo's story, the truth appears to be that the inhabits of the town had largely fled for Syracuse before the army arrived.
Nathan PMay 17, 2018
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Kings of Macedon. Philip III Arrhidaios, (Circa 322-318 BC)AR Drachm

17 mm, 4.20 g

Sardes mint under Philip III Arrhidaios (323-317 BC) in the types of Alexander III

Obverse: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headdress.

Reverse: ΦIΛIΠΠΟΥ (FILIPPOU) Zeus seated left on throne, holding eagle in his right hand and scepter in his left; to left, bee; below throne, A.

Price P104

This coin is a die match for Nomos Web Auction 6, Lot 330, 11/20/2016 (https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=3481680)

Subsequent to his death in 323 BC, Alexander the Great's sister, Cleopatra, traveled to Sardes (Autumn 322 BC) to lure a husband from among her brother's former generals (who had already begun warring over Alexander's empire). Over the course of the next two years she was visited twice by Alexander's former secretary and now dashing outlaw general, Eumenes of Cardia. The first time Eumenes brought an offer of marriage from the general Perdiccas, who Cleopatra turned away (rightfully, it turned out, as he was killed by his own troops after failing in battle vs. Ptolemy in Egypt). The second time (320 BC) Eumenes offered to ally with Cleopatra to combine his military might and her royal legitimacy.(This was not an offer of marriage, as Eumenes was not Macedonian.) To impress the princess, Eumenes paraded his cavalry back and forth before Sardes. But Cleopatra, though she granted Eumenes an audience, was not willing to become his partisan. Throughout the wars that followed Cleopatra never married or even left Sardes, where she remained as a veritable damsel in the tower keep until her death by assassination in 308 BC.
Nathan PMay 10, 2018
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Attica, Athens. (Circa 454-404 BC)AR Tetradrachm

24mm, 16.57g

Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing earring, necklace with pendants, and crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor and a spiral palmette on the bowl

Rev: Owl standing right, head facing; olive sprig and crescent behind; all within incuse square.

Test cuts on both sides.

Kroll 8; HGC 4, 1597
2 commentsNathan PMay 03, 2018
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Kings of Macedon. Amphipolis. Philip II. 359-336 BC. (Circa 355-349/8 BC)AR Tetradrachm

23mm., 13,99g.

Obverse: Laureate head of Zeus right

Reverse: ΦIΛIΠ ΠOY (FILIPPOU, "Of Philip"), Philip II on horse left, wearing kausia, short tunic and chiton around the neck, he raises the hand in salutation, bow beneath the front legs of the horse.

Le Rider D71, R -; SNG Cop 545 var.

Philip's revolutionary silver tetradrachms aimed to replace those of the Chalcidian League after his capture of the League's capital, Olynthus, in 348 BC. The horseman on the reverse was the type which had traditionally marked coinage of fine silver in Macedonia. The reverse type exists in two versions. One shows a bearded horseman wearing kausia and chlamys (this coin), very like the horseman on the coins of the fifth-century Macedonian kings; here no doubt Philip himself is represented. The other is a mounted jockey carrying the palm branch of victory, which certainly commemorates the success of Philip's horse in the Olympic games of 356 BC.

From sculptures uncovered in the excavation of Philip’s tomb in 1977, it is evident that the artist adopted some of Philip’s facial attributes in the depiction of Zeus on the obverse of his tetradrachms, which would help assert Philip’s divinity and claim to the broader throne of Greece.
1 commentsNathan PApr 30, 2018
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Thessaly, Larissa. Circa 420-400 BCAR Drachm (18mm, 6.18 g, 6h)

Obverse: The hero Thessalos, with petasos and chlamys hanging around neck, restraining bull left by band held around its head

Reverse: ΛΑΡI-[Σ]-ΙΑ (Larisia), horse prancing right within incuse circle.

Lorber, Thessalian 60 (same obv. die as illustration); BCD Thessaly II 370.3; HGC 4, 421 var. (horse left).

From the BCD Collection.

Thessaly was an agricultural and livestock region with large wild areas. She was famous for her horses and riders. Larissa, the most important city of Thessaly, takes its name from one of the daughters of the mythical king Pelasgos. The town was famous for its horse farms and Thessalos, the eponymous hero of the region, raised wild bulls there.

This coinage is characterized by the use of an iconography common to different Thessalian cities, namely: Thessalos taming the bull in a taurokathapsia (bull leaping) and on the reverse the horse of Poseidon, Hippios. The taurokathapsia was a contest in which the athlete passes a band around the bull’s head and pulls it tight in an attempt to bring the animal under control. This would have been not only a feat of great strength, but also of dexterity and agility to avoid being trampled or gored by the bull.
1 commentsNathan PApr 26, 2018
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Campania, Hyrianoi. (Circa 405-400 BC)Fourrée Nomos (20.5mm, 6.33 g)

Obverse: Head of Athena wearing crested helmet decorated with olive-wreath and owl.

Reverse: Man-faced bull standing r. on exergual line, YDINA (retrograde) above. YDINA is in Oscan script and means "Urina", another name for Hyria.

For prototype, cf. HN Italy 539.

The city, named both Nola (new city) and Hyria (which Nola likely arose from), was situated in the midst of the plain lying to the east of Mount Vesuvius, 21 miles south of Capua. While Neapolis was the focus of minting in this general area, Neapolitan designs were adopted by several new series of coins, some of them bearing legends in Oscan script referring to communities that are otherwise unknown (such as the Hyrianoi). Complex die linking between these different series indicate, at the very least, close cooperation in minting. Didrachms sharing motives (Athena/man headed bull), but with legends referring to different issuing communities on the reverse, testify to the integration into a common material culture in Campania in the late fifth to early fourth century. The die sharing and use of legends in Oscan script allow for an interpretation of these issues as indigenous coinages struck in the Campanian mileu.

The influence of Athens on Hyria can be seen not only in the great number of Greek vases and other articles discovered at the old city but by the adoption of the head of Pallas with the Athenian owl as their obverse type.

This particular coin is an ancient forgery, which were quite common in Magna Graecia and typically of much higher quality than fourrees produced elsewhere. In ON THE FORGERIES OF PUBLIC MONEY [J. Y. Akerman
The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society, Vol. 6 (APRIL, 1843–JANUARY, 1844), pp. 57-82] it is noted that ancient forgeries tend "to be most abundantly found to belong to the most luxurious, populous, and wealthy cities of Magna Graecia...Nor is it surprising that the luxury and vice of those celebrated cities should have led to crime; and among crimes, to the forging of money, as furnishing the means for the more easy gratification of those sensual indulgences, which were universally enjoyed by the rich in those dissipated and wealthy cities. Many of the coins of the places in question having been originally very thickly coated, or cased with silver (called by the French, fourrees), pass even now among collectors without suspicion."
1 commentsNathan PApr 20, 2018
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Calabria. Tarentum. (Circa 332-302 BC)AR Nomos (21 mm, 7.76 g)

Obverse: Warrior, preparing to cast spear held in right hand, holding two spears and shield in left, on horse rearing right; ΣA below

Reverse: Taras, holding kantharos in extended right hand, cradling trident in left arm, astride dolphin left; AP to left, TAPAΣ (Taras) to right; below, small dolphin left.

Vlasto 614-20; HN Italy 937.
2 commentsNathan PApr 13, 2018
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Lucania, Velia. (Circa 340-334 B.C.)AR nomos (22 mm, 7.24 g, 2 h).

Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with a griffin; between neck guard and crest, Θ

Reverse: YEΛHTΩN (of Elea), lion prowling right; below, X.

Williams 262 (O151/R207); SNG ANS 1293 (same dies); HN Italy 1284.

Velia was the Roman name of an ancient city of Magna Graecia on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. It was founded by Greeks from Phocaea as Hyele around 538–535 BC. According to Herodotus, in 545 BC Ionian Greeks fled Phocaea, in modern Turkey, which was being besieged by the Persians under Cyrus the Great. They settled in Corsica until they were attacked by a force of Etruscans and Carthaginians. The surviving 6000 took to the sea once more, first stopping in Reggio Calabria, where they were probably joined by the poet/philosopher Xenophanes, who was at the time at Messina, and then moved north along the coast and founded the town of Hyele, later renamed Ele and then, eventually, Elea.

Elea was not conquered by the Lucanians, but eventually joined Rome in 273 BC and was included in ancient Lucania.
1 commentsNathan PApr 13, 2018
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Rhodes, Caria. (Circa 305-275 BC)AR Didrachm

18 mm, 6.41 g

Obverse: Helios head in three-quarter view on the right.

Reverse: POΔΙΟΝ (RODION) above and Ε-Υ to left and right of rose with bud to right; in left field, bunch of grapes.

SNG Keckman 452; R. Ashton in: Money and Its Uses in the Ancient Greek World (Oxford 2001), p. 104, 158; H. Troxell, The Norman Davis Collection, ANS 1969, #228.

This coin was minted either during or in the years following one of the most notable sieges of antiquity, when, in the midst of the Successor Wars, Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of Antigonus I, besieged Rhodes in an attempt to make it abandon its neutrality and close relationship with Ptolemy I.

The citizens of Rhodes were successful in resisting Demetrius; after one year he abandoned the siege and signed a peace agreement (304 BC) which Demetrius presented as a victory because Rhodes agreed to remain neutral in his war with Ptolemy (Egypt).

Several years later the Helepolis (Demetrius' famed siege tower), which had been abandoned, had its metal plating melted down and - along with the money from selling the remains of the siege engines and equipment left behind by Demetrius - was used to erect a statue of their sun god, Helios, now known as the Colossus of Rhodes, to commemorate their heroic resistance.
1 commentsNathan PApr 06, 2018
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Cimmerian Bosporos. Panticapaeum. (Circa 325-310 BC)AE17 (4.07 gm)

Obverse: Head of bearded satyr left

Reverse: Π-A-N, head of bull left.

MacDonald 67. Anokhin 132.

Panticapaeum (Ancient Greek: Παντικάπαιον, translit. Pantikápaion, Russian: Пантикапей, translit. Pantikapei) was an ancient Greek city on the eastern shore of Crimea, which the Greeks called Taurica. The city was built on Mount Mithridat, a hill on the western side of the Cimmerian Bosporus. It was founded by Milesians in the late 7th or early 6th century BC.

This area eventually came to be ruled by the Spartocids, a Hellenized Thracian dynasty that ruled the Hellenistic Kingdom of Bosporus between the years 438–108 BC. They had usurped the former dynasty, the Archaeanactids, a Greek dynasty of the Bosporan Kingdom who were tyrants of Panticapaeum from 480 - 438 BC that were usurped from the Bosporan throne by Spartokos I in 438 BC, whom the dynasty is named after.

Spartokos I is often thought to have been a Thracian mercenary who was hired by the Archaeanactids, and that he usurped the Archaeanactids becoming "king" of the Bosporan Kingdom, then only a few cities, such as Panticapaeum. Spartokos was succeeded by his son, Satyros I, who would go on to conquer many cities around Panticapaeum such as Nymphaeum and Kimmerikon. Satyros's son, Leukon I, would go to conquer and expand the kingdom beyond boundaries his father ever thought of.

Ultimately, the Bosporan Kingdom entered into a decline due to numerous attacks from nomadic Scythian tribes in the subsequent centuries leading up to its fall.
Nathan PApr 06, 2018
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Pamphylia, Aspendos (Circa 380-325 BC)AR Stater

24 mm, 11.08 g

Obv: Two wrestlers grappling. Control: KI.

Rev: EΣTFEΔIIYΣ.
Slinger in throwing stance right. Triskeles right in field; countermark.


SNG France 104; SNG von Aulock 4557.

Aspendos was an ancient city in Pamphylia, Asia Minor, located about 40 km east of the modern city of Antalya, Turkey. It was situated on the Eurymedon River about 16 km inland from the Mediterranean Sea; it shared a border with, and was hostile to, Side. The wide range of its coinage throughout the ancient world indicates that, in the 5th century BC, Aspendos had become the most important city in Pamphylia. At that time, according to Thucydides, the Eurymedon River was navigable as far as Aspendos, and the city derived great wealth from a trade in salt, oil and wool.

There are two stories associated with Aspendos that I found interesting. In 389 BC Thrasybulus of Athens, in an effort to regain some of the prestige that city had lost in the Peloponnesian Wars, anchored off the coast of Aspendos in an effort to secure its surrender. Hoping to avoid a new war, the people of Aspendos collected money among themselves and gave it to the commander, entreating him to retreat without causing any damage. Even though he took the money, he had his men trample all the crops in the fields. Enraged, the Aspendians stabbed and killed Thrasybulus in his tent.

Many years later when Alexander the Great marched into Aspendos in 333 BC after capturing Perge, the citizens sent envoys asking him not to garrison soldiers there. He agreed, provided he would be given the taxes and horses that they had formerly paid as tribute to the Persian king. After reaching this agreement Alexander went to Side, leaving a garrison there on the city's surrender. Going back through Sillyon, he learned that the Aspendians had failed to ratify the agreement their envoys had proposed and were preparing to defend themselves. Alexander marched to the city immediately. When they saw Alexander returning with his troops, the Aspendians, who had retreated to their acropolis, again sent envoys to sue for peace. This time, however, they had to agree to very harsh terms; a Macedonian garrison would remain in the city and 100 gold talents as well as 4,000 horses would be given in tax annually.
Nathan PApr 05, 2018
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Moesia, Istros. (Circa 340-313 BC)AR Drachm

6.19 g

Obverse: Two facing male heads; the right inverted

Reverse: IΣTPIH, sea-eagle left, grasping dolphin left with talons; H behind, Δ below.

AMNG I 431. SNG BM Black Sea 245.

Istros was a Greek colony near the mouths of the Danube (known as Ister in Ancient Greek), on the western coast of the Black Sea. Established by Milesian settlers in order to facilitate trade with the native Getae, Scymnus of Chios (ca 110 BC), dated its founding to 630 BC, while Eusebius of Caesarea set it during the time of the 33rd Olympic Games (657 – 656 BC). During the archaic and classical periods, when Istros flourished, it was situated near fertile arable land. It served as a port of trade soon after its establishment, with fishing and agriculture as additional sources of income.
1 commentsNathan PApr 05, 2018
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Skythia, Olbia. (Circa 260-250 BC)AE 19, 7.30 g

Obv: Horned head of Borysthenes left.

Rev: OΛBIO. Axe and bow in quiver; API to left.

SNG BM Black Sea 530

Olbia was founded in the 7th century BC by colonists from Miletus. Its harbor was one of the main emporia on the Black Sea for the export of cereals, fish, and slaves to Greece, and for the import of Attic goods to Scythia.

During the reign of Alexander the Great, Olbia was attacked by the Zopyrion, who had been made a governor either of Thrace or of Pontus by Alexander. For this purpose, he collected a force of thirty thousand men.They marched along the Black Sea coast and besieged Olbia. But the Olbians "gave freedom to their slaves, granted the rights of citizenship to foreigners, changed promissory notes and thus managed to survive the siege". They also made an alliance with the Scythians. Zopyrion, lacking resources to continue the siege, decided to retreat. On his way back, Scythians destroyed his army by constant raids. Defeat was probably accomplished beyond the Danube by Getae and Triballi avenging Alexander's devastation of their lands in 335 BC. Zopyrion perished with his troops in the winter at the end of 331 BC.
Nathan PApr 05, 2018
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Kings of Macedon. Alexander III 'The Great' (Circa 324/323 BC)AR Tetradrachm

25.5 mm, 17.24 g

Babylon mint. Struck under Stamenes or Archon, circa 324/3 BC.

Obverse: Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin

Reverse: Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; wreath in left field; below throne, monogram above M.

Price 3655.

This coin was minted in or near the time (323 BC) and place (Babylon) of Alexander's (likely) assassination.
Nathan PApr 05, 2018
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Argolis. Argos (Circa 480-430 BC)Triobol AR

14 mm, 2.95 g

Obverse: Forepart of wolf at bay left

Reverse: Large A, two small incuse squares above, pellet below, all within shallow incuse square.

BCD Peloponnesos 1022-4; HGC 5, 663
Nathan PApr 05, 2018
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Sicily, Syracuse. Agathokles (Circa 317-289 BC)AE 21, 8.90 g

Obverse: ΣΩΤΕΙΡΑ (Soteira - "the saving goddess); head of Artemis right, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace, quiver over shoulder

Reverse: ΑΓΑΘΟΚΛΕΟΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΟΣ (By the King Agathokles); winged thunderbolt. Calciati II pg. 277, 142; SNG ANS 708.

The son of a potter who had moved to Syracuse in about 343 BC, Agathokles learned his father's trade, but afterwards entered the army. In 333 BC he married the widow of his patron Damas, a distinguished and wealthy citizen. He was twice banished for attempting to overthrow the oligarchical party in Syracuse.

In 317 BC he returned with an army of mercenaries under a solemn oath to observe the democratic constitution which was established after they took the city. Having banished or murdered some 10,000 citizens, and thus made himself master of Syracuse, he created a strong army and fleet and subdued the greater part of Sicily.

War with Carthage followed. In 311 BC Agathocles was defeated in the Battle of the Himera River and besieged in Syracuse. In 310 BC he made a desperate effort to break through the blockade and attack the enemy in Africa. After several victories he was at last completely defeated (307 BC) and fled secretly to Sicily.

After concluding peace with Carthage in 306 BC, Agathocles styled himself king of Sicily in 304 BC, and established his rule over the Greek cities of the island more firmly than ever. A peace treaty with Carthage left him in control of Sicily east of the Halycus River. Even in his old age he displayed the same restless energy, and is said to have been contemplating a fresh attack on Carthage at the time of his death.
Nathan PApr 04, 2018
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Sicily, Syracuse. Hiketas II. (Circa 287-278 BC)AE 22, 10.11 g

Obverse: Wreathed head of Persephone left; ear of grain behind; ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ (SYRAKOSION)

Reverse: Female driving biga right; star above, A in exergue

CNS II 123 Ds 95; SNG ANS 759 var.

Hiketas (Greek: Ἱκέτας or Ἱκέτης) was tyrant of Syracuse, during the interval between the reign of Agathokles and that of Pyrrhus. After the death of Agathokles (289 BC), his supposed assassin, Maenon, put to death Archagathus, the grandson of Agathocles; and assuming the command of the army directed his arms against Syracuse. Hereupon Hicetas was sent against him by the Syracusans, with a considerable army: but after the war had continued for some time, without any decisive result, Maenon, by calling in the aid of the Carthaginians, obtained the superiority, and the Syracusans were compelled to conclude an ignominious peace. Soon after ensued the revolution which led to the expulsion of the Campanian mercenaries (originally hired by Agathokles), afterwards known as the Mamertines: and it must have been shortly after this that Hiketas established himself in the supreme power, as we are told by Diodorus that he ruled nine years. He was at length expelled from Syracuse by Thynion, an event which took place not long before the arrival of Pyrrhus in Sicily, and must therefore be referred either to 279 or 278 BC.
1 commentsNathan PApr 04, 2018
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Aiolis, Kyme. (Circa 2nd century B.C.) AE 16, 3.74 g

Obverse: Artemis standing right, holding long torch, clasping hands with the Amazon Kyme, standing left, holding short transverse scepter

Reverse: Two figures, Apollo and Kyme, in crested helmets and military garb, Apollo holding lance or long spear, standing in slow quadriga right.

Grose:7908; SNG von Aulock 7698; SNG München 512; SNG Copenhagen 113.

Kyme was an Aeolian city in Aeolis (Asia Minor) close to the kingdom of Lydia. The Aeolians regarded Kyme as the largest and most important of their twelve cities, which were located on the coastline of Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). Little is known about the foundation of the city to supplement the traditional founding legend. According to legend, it was founded by the Amazon Kyme.
Nathan PApr 04, 2018
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Calabria. Tarentum. Nomos (Circa 302-280 BC)AR Nomos

21 mm, 7.78 g

Obv: Youth, holding shield, on horse rearing left; ΣΛ to right, ΦΙΛΩΝ below.
Rev: TAPAΣ.
Phalanthos, holding crowning Nike, riding dolphin left; waves below.

Vlasto 684-5; HN Italy 964.

In Greek mythology, Phalanthos (Φάλανθος) is a divine hero, the leader of the Spartan Partheniae and the founder of Taranto. In Ancient Greece, the Partheniae or Parthenians were a lower ranking Spartiate population which, according to tradition, left Laconia to go to Magna Graecia and founded Taras, modern Taranto, in the current region of Apulia, in southern Italy. In Greek mythology, Phalanthos is a divine hero, and the leader of the Spartan Partheniae.

At least three distinct traditions carry the origins of the Parthenians. The oldest is that of Antiochus of Syracuse, according to which the Spartiates, during the first Messenian war (end of the 8th century BC), had rejected like cowards those who had not fought, along with their descendants:

"Antiochus says that, during the Messenian war, those Lacedemonians which did not take part with the mission shall be declared as slaves and called Helots; as for the children born during the mission, we shall call them Parthenians and deny them of all legal rights."

The Parthenians were therefore the first tresantes ("trembling"), a category which gathers the cowards and thus excludes themselves from the community of the Homoioi, the Peers. Thereafter, Parthenians plotted against the Peers and, discovered, would have been driven out of Sparta, from which they departed for Italy and founded Taras, whose date is traditionally fixed in 706 BC - which archaeology does not deny.

In the second tradition, according to Ephorus (4th century BC), the Spartiates swore during the Messenian War, not to return home as long as they had not attained victory. The war prolonged and Sparta's demography being threatened, the Spartiates let the young Spartans who had not sworn the oath return home. These were ordered to copulate with all the girls available. The children who were born from these unions were named Parthenians. Their mothers, since they were compelled by the state to procreate, were legally considered unmolested and fit to marry once the war was over.

Lastly, a third tradition, made the Parthenians bastards who had resulted from the unions of Spartan women and their slaves, always during the Messenian war. The same tradition is told to explain the origins of Locri, also in Magna Graecia.
Nathan PApr 04, 2018
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Boeotia, Thebes (Circa 379-368 BC)AR Stater

22 mm, 11.44 g

Obverse: Boeotian shield

Reverse: Amphora; ΠO-ΘI (Pothi - magistrate) across field.

Hepworth 81; BCD Boiotia 515; HGC 4, 1331

Thebes was the largest city of the ancient region of Boeotia. It was a major rival of ancient Athens, and sided with the Persians during the 480 BC invasion under Xerxes and Sparta during the Peloponnesian war (431-404 BC). In 404 BC, they had urged the complete destruction of Athens; yet, in 403 BC, they secretly supported the restoration of its democracy in order to find in it a counterpoise against Sparta. A few years later, influenced perhaps in part by Persian gold, they formed the nucleus of the league against Sparta. The result of the war was disastrous to Thebes, and by 382 BC a Spartan force was occupying its citadel. Three years later, the Spartan garrison was expelled and a democratic constitution was set up in place of the traditional oligarchy. In the consequent wars with Sparta, the Theban army, trained and led by Epaminondas and Pelopidas, proved itself formidable. Years of desultory fighting, in which Thebes established its control over all Boeotia, culminated in 371 BC in a remarkable victory over the Spartans at Leuctra.
Nathan PApr 03, 2018
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Lucania, Metapontion (Circa 330-290 BC)AR Nomos

7.85g, 19mm

Obv: Head of Demeter left, wearing grain wreath.

Rev: META. Barley grain, with ear to left; above leaf, griffin springing right; ΛY below leaf.

Johnston Class C6; HN Italy 1589.

Throughout the extensive series of staters that Metapontum issued, the ear of barley, to which the city-state owed its wealth, features prominently. Perhaps of most interest however, is the head of Demeter, the goddess of corn, which usually appears on the obverse of the staters. The head of Demeter is consistently represented as a young woman, often engraved in exquisite beauty to a very high degree of artistry.
1 commentsNathan PApr 03, 2018
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Lucania, Metapontion (400-340 BC)AR Nomos

19mm, 7.48g

Obverse: Head of Leucippus with Corinthian helmet, behind grape

Reverse: Barley ear with side leaf and META to right.

Johnston A4.3 (av., Stgl.), HN Italy 1553.

Metapontion traced its founding to the 7th century BC, when an Achaean adventurer named Leucippus and his followers put down roots on a fertile plain on the instep of the Italian boot. The city so flourished that its people were said to have dedicated a "golden harvest," probably a golden sheaf of barley, at the great temple of Delphi.

Metapontion was among the first cities of Magna Graecia to issue coinage, and indeed long preceded its later rival Tarentum in this respect. The choice of the barley ear as the civic emblem is unusual in that the other cities of Magna Graecia all struck coinage displaying types relating to their foundation myths or principal cults. Metapontion's choice may well reflect a significant economic reliance on its major export.
Nathan PApr 03, 2018
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Thurium, Lucania (Circa 400-350 BC)AR Nomos

20 mm, 7.45g

Obverse: Head of Athena with Attic helmet, on the helmet boiler Scylla

Reverse: Bull, in section fish.

SNG ANS 1034 (av., Stgl.), HN Italy 1787.

Located on a fertile plain on the Gulf of Taranto near the site of Sybaris, Thurium was founded by Achaeans late in the 8th Century B.C. At its peak, Sybaris had amassed a population nearly equal to that of Athens, had a six-mile defensive wall, and according to Strabo had as many as 25 cities and four native peoples under its authority. However, the thriving settlement was destroyed by Croton in 510 B.C.

After two attempts to establish a new foundation on the ruined site that had been thwarted by Croton, a fresh attempt was made in the period 446 to 444/3 B.C. This remarkable undertaking was originally conceived by descendants of the Sybarites, but when the Crotonites opposed that enterprise as well, help was sought from Athens. Pericles came to their aid by sending colonists whom he had gathered from throughout Greece to participate in what he envisioned as a Panhellenic experiment in colonization. With financial and military support from Athens, the colonists set up their city, drawing on the talents of Protagoras of Abdera for its civil laws, Lampon of Athens for its sacred laws and Hippodamus of Miletus for its city-plan. Even the historian Herodotus is counted among the talented participants.

As Thurium began to flourish its colonists from Greece soon ejected their co-founding Sybarites (who established another city on the river Traeis) and eventually distanced themselves even from their benefactor Athens. The city continued to prosper even after it came under Roman control following the defeat of Tarentum in 272. During the Second Punic War, Thurium was still a regional power and it held out as a Roman ally until the spring of 212, when resisting the Carthaginians became impossible. It was the last Greek city to fall to Hannibal, yet it also was the last city outside of Bruttium to remain in his camp. This was not appreciated by the Romans who consequently added its land to their ager publicus and, in 194 or 193, by which time the site was largely abandoned, founded in its place the Latin colony of Copia.

Thurian coinage is substantial, and is renowned for the fine artistry of its dies. The head of Athena as an obverse type clearly is inspired by the coinage of Athens. The standing bull on the city’s early coins likely was derived from the old badge of Sybaris, yet the charging version of that animal may refer to the local spring Thuria, from which the new foundation took its name. On this example the bowl of Athena’s helmet is decorated with Scylla, whose serpent-tail is visible. The bull, as on all Thurian issues of this era, is fully animated with its tail lashing as it charges forth to engage some unseen foe.
1 commentsNathan PApr 03, 2018
   
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