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0003 Hero Wrestling Bull Protome Facing Left with Lotus Flower and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck l., head turned to face the viewer, on the r. and behind half figure of the hero Thessalos1 to l., grasping the bull by the horns. Lotus flower above. All within border of dots.
Rev: Λ-ΑR-Ι in front and above (retrograde), head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 462/1 - 460 BC2; Weight: .86g; Diameter: 10mm: Die axis: 210º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus p. 101, IA (V1-R1), pl. 4, 1 and 2 and 3; BCD Thessaly I 1103.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in BCD Thessaly I.
Provenance: Ex Leu Numismatik February 27, 2021, From a European collection formed before 2005.
Photo Credits: Leu Numismatik
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Tracy Aiello
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0004 Hero Wrestling Bull Protome Facing Right and Bridled Horse Facing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: bull head and neck r., head turned to face the viewer, on the l. and behind half figure of the hero Thessalos1 to r. with l. arm over the bull's neck and r. hand below the bull's muzzle. All within border of dots.
Rev:[Λ]Α r. and upwards, head and neck of bridled horse r. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver obol; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 460 - 440 BC2; Weight: 1.01g; Diameter: 11mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Liampi Corpus p. 102, 6 (V4-R5), Pl. 4, 13 and 14; BCD Thessaly II 353.3; HGC 4, 480.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4.
Provenance: Ex Numismatik-Naumann November 14, 2020.
Photo Credits: Numismatik-Naumann
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Tracy Aiello
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0008 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Left, Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to l. naked, except for chlamys and petasos both attached to his neck by a cord and flying in the air, wrestling a bull charging l., plant to l. and below between Thessalos' legs, [TO in exergue?]. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑ above, ΡΙΣΑ below (retrograde), bridled horse prancing r. with loose rein. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 440 - 420 BC2; Weight: 5.47g; Diameter: 19.5mm: Die axis: 90º; References, for example: Weber 2834 var. no mention of plant between legs or TO in obv. exergue; Herrmann Group III Series C pl. II, 1; BCD Thessaly I 1123 var. reverse legend; BCD Thessaly II 366.1; HGC 4, 416 var. no mention of plant between legs.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
Provenance: Ex CNG Electronic Auction 465 Lot 74 April 8, 2020 (from the Frank M. Martin collection)
Photo Credits: CNG
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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0009 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Right, Horse Prancing RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to r. naked, except for chlamys around his shoulders and petasos, flying in the air, attached to his neck by a cord, holding with both hands a band that is around the forehead of a bull leaping r. All within a border of dots (not here visible).
Rev: ΛΑΡΙ above, Σ to the r. (not here visible), ΙΑ below (not here visible), bridled horse with trailing rein prancing r., no ground line. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC2; Weight: 6.06g; Diameter: 18mm: Die axis: 270º; References, for example: Lorber 2008, pl. 43, 59 (same dies); BCD Thessaly II 372.7 (same dies); HGC 4, 423 (same obv.).
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
This type is related to the Thessalian sport of bull wrestling (taurokathapsia) "...regularly showcased at the Taureia games honoring Poseidon Taureios." (HGC 4, p. 132).
Provenance: Ex Shanna Schmidt Numismatics May 28, 2019; from the BCD collection, reportedly found 8 kms west of Pharsalus, May 1997.
Photo credits: Shanna Schmidt Numismatics
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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00091 Thessalos Wrestling Bull Left, Horse Galloping RightThessaly Greece, the City of Larissa
Obv: The hero Thessalos1 to l. naked, except for chlamys around his shoulders and petasos, flying in the air, attached to his neck by a cord, holding with both hands the head of a bull leaping l. All within a border of dots.
Rev: ΛΑΡΙ above to the r., ΣΑΙΑ below to the r., bridled horse galloping r., ground line. All within incuse square.
Denomination: silver drachm; Mint: Larissa; Date: c. 420 - 400 BC2; Weight: 5.83g; Diameter: 19mm: Die axis: 180º; References, for example: Herrmann Group III Series H Rev. I; BCD Thessaly II 174; HGC 4, 420.
Notes:
1Considered the ancestor of all Thessalians. The figure is also sometimes considered to be Jason (of Jason and the Argonauts), who according to one tradition was the father of Thessalos (HGC 4, p. 132).
2This is the date given in HGC 4. According to Lorber 2008 this coin should be placed in the revived bull wrestling drachm coinage, beginning c. 450 - 440 BC.
Provenance: Ex Gorny and Mosch Auction 269 Lot 298
March 3, 2020; Ex Gorny & Mosch Auction 212 Lot 1461 March 5 and 6, 2013
Photo credits: Gorny and Mosch
CLICK FOR SOURCESTracy Aiello
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501. Constantine I Cyzicus GLORIA EXERCITVSCyzicus
Cyzicus was an ancient town of Mysia in Asia Minor, situated on the shoreward side of the present peninsula of Kapu-Dagh (Arctonnesus), which is said to have been originally an island in the Sea of Marmara, and to have been artificially connected with the mainland in historic times.
It was, according to tradition, occupied by Thessalian settlers at the coming of the Argonauts, and in 756 BC the town was founded by Greeks from Miletus.
Owing to its advantageous position it speedily acquired commercial importance, and the gold staters of Cyzicus were a staple currency in the ancient world till they were superseded by those of Philip of Macedon. (For more information on ancient coinage click here) During the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC) Cyzicus was subject to the Athenians and Lacedaemonians alternately, and at the peace of Antalcidas (387 BC), like the other Greek cities in Asia, it was made over to Persia.
The history of the town in Hellenistic times is closely connected with that of the Attalids of Pergamon, with whose extinction it came into direct relations with Rome. Cyzicus was held for the Romans against Mithradates in 74 BC till the siege was raised by Lucullus: the loyalty of the city was rewarded by an extension of territory and other privileges. Still a flourishing centre in Imperial times, the place appears to have been ruined by a series of earthquakes —the last in AD 1063— and the population was transferred to Artaki at least as early as the 13th century, when the peninsula was occupied by the Crusaders.
The site is now known as Bal-Kiz and entirely uninhabited, though under cultivation. The principal extant ruins are the walls, which are traceable for nearly their whole extent, a picturesque amphitheatre intersected by a stream, and the substructures of the temple of Hadrian. Of this magnificent building, sometimes ranked among the seven wonders of the ancient world, thirty-one immense columns still stood erect in 1444. These have since been carried away piecemeal for building purposes.
RIC VII Cyzicus 110 R5
Ex-Varangian
ecoli
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Achaea. Messinia, Pylos. Caracalla AE22Peloponnesus. Pylos, Messenia. Caracalla. AD 198-217. Æ Assarion 22mm. Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / Athena standing left, holding phiale and spear.
BCD Peloponnesus 819
Pylos is the home of the mythological argonaut Nestor; King of Pylus. ancientone
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Commodus Provincial Countermark[Α Κ?] Μ ΑΥ ΚΟ ΑΝΤΩΝΙΝΟΣ
laureate head of Commodus, r.
ΜΗΤΡΟΠΟ ΝΕΩ ΝΙΚΟ
seafaring hero (an Argonaut?) standing with foot on prow, r., head, l., extending r. hand, holding transverse sceptre
Countermark of "young Emperor" facing right (Caracalla?)
177–192 AD
Nicomedia Bithynia-Pontus; Bithynia
REC 152
SOLD
Jay GT4
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Heracles and the Stymphalian birds. Detail of a Roman mosaic from Llíria, Spain.The Stymphalian birds are man-eating birds with beaks of bronze, sharp metallic feathers they could launch at their victims, and poisonous dung.
"These fly against those who come to hunt them, wounding and killing them with their beaks. All armour of bronze or iron that men wear is pierced by the birds; but if they weave a garment of thick cork, the beaks of the Stymphalian birds are caught in the cork garment, just as the wings of small birds stick in bird-lime. These birds are of the size of a crane, and are like the ibis, but their beaks are more powerful, and not crooked like that of the ibis." — Pausanias. Description of Greece, 8.22.5
These birds were pets of Artemis, the goddess of the hunt; or had been brought up by Ares, the god of war. They migrated to a marsh in Arcadia to escape a pack of wolves. There they bred quickly and swarmed over the countryside, destroying crops, fruit trees, and townspeople.
The Sixth Labour of Heracles. The Stymphalian birds were defeated by Heracles (Hercules) in his sixth labour for Eurystheus. Heracles could not go into the marsh to reach the nests of the birds, as the ground would not support his weight. Athena, noticing the hero's plight, gave Heracles a rattle called krotala, which Hephaestus had made especially for the occasion. Heracles shook the krotala (similar to castanets) on a certain mountain that overhung the lake and thus frightening the birds into the air. Heracles then shot many of them with feathered arrows tipped with poisonous blood from the slain Hydra. The rest flew far away, never to plague Arcadia again. Heracles brought some of the slain birds to Eurystheus as proof of his success.
The surviving birds made a new home on an island of Aretias in the Euxine Sea. The Argonauts later encountered them there.
According to Mnaseas, they were not birds, but women and daughters of Stymphalus and Ornis, and were killed by Heracles because they did not receive him hospitably. In the temple of the Stymphalian Artemis, however, they were represented as birds, and behind the temple there were white marble statues of maidens with birds' feet.Joe Sermarini
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Severus Alexander / HekateThyatira, Lydia
223-235 AD
AE25 (7.36g)
O: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right;
R: Hekate Selene, head facing left, wearing a short chiton and holding two torches, full moon around shoulders (billowing veil?); ΘV - ATEI - P - HNΩN.
SNG Fitzwilliam 1374
ex Ancient Imports
When at thy coming my father has given thee the deadly teeth from the dragon's jaws for sowing, then watch for the time when the night is parted in twain, then bathe in the stream of the tireless river, and alone, apart from others, clad in dusky raiment, dig a rounded pit; and therein slay a ewe, and sacrifice it whole, heaping high the pyre on the very edge of the pit. And propitiate only-begotten Hekate, daughter of Perses, pouring from a goblet the hive-stored labour of bees. And then, when thou hast heedfully sought the grace of the goddess, retreat from the pyre; and let neither the sound of feet drive thee to turn back, nor the baying of hounds, lest haply thou shouldst maim all the rites and thyself fail to return duly to thy comrades.
~ Apollonius of Rhodes (Argonautica 3,1028-1051)Enodia
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Severus Alexander / HekateThyatira, Lydia
223-235 AD
AE25 (7.36g)
O: Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right;
R: Hekate Selene, head facing left, wearing a short chiton and holding two torches, full moon around shoulders (billowing veil?); ΘV - ATEI - P - HNΩN.
SNG Fitzwilliam 1374
ex Ancient Imports
"When at thy coming my father has given thee the deadly teeth from the dragon's jaws for sowing, then watch for the time when the night is parted in twain, then bathe in the stream of the tireless river, and alone, apart from others, clad in dusky raiment, dig a rounded pit; and therein slay a ewe, and sacrifice it whole, heaping high the pyre on the very edge of the pit. And propitiate only-begotten Hekate, daughter of Perses, pouring from a goblet the hive-stored labour of bees. And then, when thou hast heedfully sought the grace of the goddess, retreat from the pyre; and let neither the sound of feet drive thee to turn back, nor the baying of hounds, lest haply thou shouldst maim all the rites and thyself fail to return duly to thy comrades."
~ Apollonius of Rhodes (Argonautica 3,1028-1051)Enodia
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The Roman Republic. C.Hosidius C.f. Geta AR Serrate DenariusThe Roman Republic. C.Hosidius C.f. Geta AR Serrate Denarius. Rome, 68 or 64 BC. Draped bust of Diana right, with bow and quiver over shoulder; GETA downwards to left, III•VIR downwards to right / Calydonian boar standing right, pierced by spear and attacked by hound to right; C•HOSIDI•C•F in exergue. Crawford 407/1; RSC Hosidia 2; Sydenham 904. 3.89g, 22mm, 6h.
Ex Andrew McCabe collection (CNG Electronic Auction 472, 15th July 2020, Lot 259).
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 114 (Part II), 7th May 2019, Lot 1326.
Ex Gorny & Mosch 186, 8th March 2010, Lot 1798.
‘He squealed harshly, hot foam streaming over his broad shoulders, and his tusks were as long as an elephant’s. Flames came out of his mouth, and the leaves were burnt up by his breath’ (Metamorphoses 8.284-9).
On the obverse of this handsome denarius is a portrait of Diana, goddess of the hunt, sporting her trademark bow and quiver. The reverse features the giant Calydonian boar of classical Greek myth, wounded by a spear and being attacked by a hound half it’s size. The ferocious boar was sent by Diana as retribution after King Oienus of Calydon forgot to include her in his annual sacrifical offerings to the gods. Oienus called for help from the best hunters in Greece, and many of the famous heroes of the generation before the Trojan war responded, including Oienus’ own son Meleager, some of the Argonauts, the Dioscuri and the huntress (and only woman) Atalanta.
Many of the men refused to hunt alongside a woman, but Meleager, who had taken a shine to the huntress, convinced them. It was Atalanta that drew the first blood, whilst Meleager finished the job off. He presented her with the trophies of the hunt, and this stirred up feelings of discontent that the prize should go to a girl. Meleager’s two uncles got in on the act and stole the spoils, causing Meleager to kill them in a fit of rage. This led to Meleager’s mother Althaea, whose brothers had just been murdered, seeking revenge - even if it meant killing her own son. It had been prophesized at Meleager’s birth that he would live only so long as a log then burning in the family hearth should last. Althaea had removed it from the fire and kept it hidden for years in the hope of preserving her son’s life. Until now. She threw the log back onto the fire, thus ending Meleager’s life as it was consumed. Diana had finally had her revenge against King Oienus.
One of the most famous depictions of the hunt is found on the François Vase, a large krater of Athenian workmanship dated to circa 570 BC.
As for Hosidius, there is little known about the moneyer responsible for this issue. There is no mention of the Hosidii in Rome prior to it’s appearance on these coins, but there is reference to the family name in inscriptions from a town on the coast of Italy called Histonium (present day Vasto). Indeed, there may be links between this town and the myth of the Calydonian boar; via Diomedes, one of the heroes of the Trojan war, and the founder of Histonium according to legend. Therefore Hosidius likely chose to depict a legend that was well known and important to the people of his home town.
This is without a doubt one of my favourites in my collection. It's a particularly well centred example with wonderful toning.
Notes from Andrew McCabe: "I purchased this coin due to the really exceptional speared boar and dog on the reverse and the very large flan, but later found an example from the collection of Benjamin Nightingale, a well-known 19th century antiquarian. My new coin has a less cute boar, but I had to choose between provenance and art."
Paulus J
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Thessaly, Halos AE Dichalkon, Phrixos flying on the ram with the golden fleece (Ex BCD Collection)Greek (Hellenistic). Thessaly, Halos. AE Dichalkon (20mm, 5.98g, 12h). 3rd century BCE.
Obverse: Diademed head of Zeus facing right.
Reverse: AΛEΩN. Phrixos nude but for billowing cloak, riding ram right. Monogram left.
References: BCD 85-86.2; Rogers 241-242.
Provenance: Ex BCD Collection (with his hand-written label; acquired Sep. 1990, ex "T/ne Coll."); CNG e-Auction 455 (30 Oct 2019), Lot 89 part.
Notes: What's great about Thessalian coins: Action-packed mythological scene.
Phrixos clinging to the ram that rescued him & twin sister Helle from a murderous stepmother. (The ram might've been a sibling too. For another day...) Helle lacked grip strength & has already fallen to the sea (where Hellespont is named for her).
Once the ram saved his life, Phrixos showed gratitude by sacrificing it to Zeus & gifting its famous golden fleece to the local King (also, as it happened, Helios' son), from whom Jason later stole it, and went on escapades & capers with some totally mental nutters called "the Argonauts."
(* I need to re-read this bit, but did the ghost of Phrixos, now dead but still attached to the fleece, hitch a ride with the Argonauts??)
[ALT: Halus, Phrixus]Curtis JJ
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[103e] Cyzikos, Mysia, Asia Minor (2)Cyzikos, Mysia, 480 - 400 B.C. Silver hemiobol, BMC 120, S 1505, VF, Cyzikus mint, .343g, 9.5mm, 0o, 480 - 400 B.C.; Obverse: forepart of boar running left, tunny fish upwards behind; Reverse: head of roaring lion left, star of four rays above, all in incuse square. Ex FORVM.
Cyzkios (Cyzicum, Kyzikos): Located in modern Turkey, at the northern end of the isthmus between the Kapidag peninsula and the mainland, beside the Bandirma road about 10km/6mi southwest of Erdek, lie the remains of the ancient trading colony of Kyzikos (or Belkis), known by the poetic name of Dindymos. It was probably settled from Miletus in the second millennium B.C. and was certainly inhabited by Miletian settlers by 756 B.C. It is mentioned in the story of Jason and the Argonauts which tells how in error they killed the hospitable king who had earlier made them welcome. In 334 Alexander the Great built two bridges joining the southern tip of the island to the mainland. After Kyzikos declined, sand continuously washing up against the piles of the bridges caused the channel slowly to silt up and the isthmus was formed. Following Lucullus's decisive victory over Mithridates, Kyzikos became a "free" city and capital of Mysia. Badly damaged on several occasions by earthquakes (particularly in 543 and 1063) and by Arab assault (673), and further ravaged in fighting between Byzantines, Seljuks and Crusaders, it was finally abandoned in 1224. Little now remains to be seen, only a section of the walls, the site of the theater and some ruins of the amphitheater and of Hadrian's Temple to Zeus from which in the 16th century columns were removed to embellish Istanbul's mosques. Finds from Kyzikos are displayed in the museum in Erdek.
http://www.planetware.com/bandirma/kyzikos-tr-bl-bakz.htm
Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
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