Author Topic: My Taras collection (Read 66931 times)

Enodia · « **Reply #200 on:** August 07, 2018, 09:48:17 pm »

thank you gents!

yes, this really is an interesting coin. the style is different than most coins from Taras, sort of transitional type from the old late-archaic style of the earlier didrachms and fractions. it is peculiar denominationally too, as it only ran for 20 years or so and there wouldn't be another coin of this weight minted for over a hundred years (the Athena/Owl types of the late third and early second centuries).

I also received this diobol recently, a day late because my dog scared the mailman away...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-148426

this control mark is not listed for a diobol in the Vlasto catalog, nor any other reference for Taras, making it a rather scarce variety. i also haven't seen many online. I think that this Athena portrait is very pretty, and the dark cabinet toning really makes it look much better in hand.

~ Peter

quadrans · « **Reply #201 on:** August 08, 2018, 06:00:35 pm »

Great piece,

Congratulation

Q.

Enodia · « **Reply #202 on:** August 08, 2018, 08:46:55 pm »

thanks Joe!

~ Peter

peterpil19 · « **Reply #203 on:** August 08, 2018, 11:15:24 pm »

Congratulations Peter,

Nice patina - potentially find patina?

Peter

Leo · « **Reply #204 on:** September 23, 2018, 09:57:21 am »

Quote from: Enodia on August 07, 2018, 12:06:44 am

I won this coin at auction last week. it is a rare drachm or 'half nomos' from the beginning of the 5th century BC. Vlasto only lists 5 of these, two facing left and the other three (this type) all from the same dies. I've been after one of these for a long time, and finally landed this one!

check it out...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-148398

and don't forget to press the Position + button to see the entire gallery in its proper order.

~ Peter

Congratulation, Peter. I found this type last spring. We are very fortunate that this type is easier to find than in the past (although it is still very scarce.)

Leo · « **Reply #205 on:** September 23, 2018, 10:07:42 am »

Quote from: Enodia on August 07, 2018, 09:48:17 pm

thank you gents!

yes, this really is an interesting coin. the style is different than most coins from Taras, sort of transitional type from the old late-archaic style of the earlier didrachms and fractions. it is peculiar denominationally too, as it only ran for 20 years or so and there wouldn't be another coin of this weight minted for over a hundred years (the Athena/Owl types of the late third and early second centuries).

I also received this diobol recently, a day late because my dog scared the mailman away...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-148426

this control mark is not listed for a diobol in the Vlasto catalog, nor any other reference for Taras, making it a rather scarce variety. i also haven't seen many online. I think that this Athena portrait is very pretty, and the dark cabinet toning really makes it look much better in hand.

~ Peter

Nice pick. I never saw a Taentum diobol with crab mark before and only found this one online.
https://www.acsearch.info/search.html?term=tarentum%2C+crab&category=1-2&en=1&de=1&fr=1&it=1&es=1&ot=1&images=1&thesaurus=1&order=1&currency=usd&company=

Enodia · « **Reply #206 on:** November 15, 2018, 03:21:58 pm »

Thanks Leo, and the fact that Vlasto didn't have one definitely influenced my purchase.
Here's another diobol i bought at auction a few months ago...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-150945

It's not a great specimen, but it was really cheap. The wing device on the helmet (unfortunately not very clear here) is not rare, but it is less common than the usual Skylla or hippocamp types, and i didn't have one already.
Now I do!

- Peter

stevex6 · « **Reply #207 on:** November 16, 2018, 11:22:33 am »

Congrats on adding something new to your specialized collection (yah, sometimes it's kinda cool to pick away and work-on adding different types to a narrow collection target)

Neat winged-helmet addition

Enodia · « **Reply #208 on:** December 24, 2018, 07:16:28 pm »

My newest piece from Taras is this unusual and rather confusing diobol...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-151965

The auction house listed it as being from Teate due to the ethnic apparently reading TIATI, and Vlasto seems to verify that while claiming the coin was struck at Taras in alliance with Teate, a somewhat unusual circumstance in itself.
However I'm not thoroughly convinced that the ethnic actually reads TIATI, but could in fact be TAPA[N]. And the condition of this specimen doesn't seem to lend itself to a definitive confirmation, at least to me. All i do know for sure is that it is a very uncommon type regardless of origin.
Any opinions?

- Peter

Molinari · « **Reply #209 on:** December 24, 2018, 09:12:06 pm »

I see TAPAN.

Merry Christmas!

Enodia · « **Reply #210 on:** December 25, 2018, 12:28:37 am »

Thanks Nick, and Merry Christmas to you and the family. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

I was hoping to get some resolution once the coin was in hand, but the image is a good one and shows the coin as it actually is. And the 1416 plate in Vlasto doesn't really show the ethnic very well. Oddly there doesn't seem to be a TAPAN ethnic on any of the diobols in the Vlasto catalog, although it is often seen on the bronzes of Taras. Perhaps this is an unpublished variety?

curiously,
- Peter

quadrans · « **Reply #211 on:** December 25, 2018, 03:40:00 am »

Quote from: Molinari on December 24, 2018, 09:12:06 pm

I see TAPAN.

Merry Christmas!

+1

Q.

Molinari · « **Reply #212 on:** December 25, 2018, 09:14:16 am »

Quote from: Enodia on December 25, 2018, 12:28:37 am

Thanks Nick, and Merry Christmas to you and the family. I hope you have a wonderful holiday.

I was hoping to get some resolution once the coin was in hand, but the image is a good one and shows the coin as it actually is. And the 1416 plate in Vlasto doesn't really show the ethnic very well. Oddly there doesn't seem to be a TAPAN ethnic on any of the diobols in the Vlasto catalog, although it is often seen on the bronzes of Taras. Perhaps this is an unpublished variety?

curiously,
- Peter

You would know better than me, but Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert would know better than anyone, so I recommend asking him. PM me and I’ll send his contact info.

If it is a new variety I hope you will submit to KOINON!

Enodia · « **Reply #213 on:** December 25, 2018, 11:01:34 pm »

upon further review...

I've been going through SNG France and have found half a dozen or so diobols from this period which do have the TAPAN ethnic, although all of them are Attic helmet right obverse, and a couple are Herakles on top of the lion about to brain him with his club reverse. So it still appears to be an unpublished variety with the Corinthian helmet left/Herakles left.

Thanks for the contact information Nick. I'm going to research my own resources a little further, but i believe i will contact mr. Fischer-Bossert at some point and see if he is familiar with this type.

- Peter

Enodia · « **Reply #214 on:** October 22, 2019, 11:22:29 pm »

I added this possibly unpublished fraction recently...

https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-158298

The phi is not recorded in any reference I have, although there is a variety with a racing torch as a control. I've tried to fit this coin into that attribution, but in hand it just doesn't look right.

- Peter

Molinari · « **Reply #215 on:** October 23, 2019, 07:38:15 am »

It does look a bit like a torch. Can you post a photo of the torch variety?

Enodia · « **Reply #216 on:** October 25, 2019, 01:37:40 pm »

Sure Nick.
The best example I could find is from Leo's magnificent collection of Tarentine coins...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-139389
The top image is Leo's with the racing torch, the lower one is mine with the ambiguous phi.
I'm not entirely sold on the phi, but in hand it does not seem to have ever had a longer shaft below or a flame above.

- Peter

Enodia · « **Reply #217 on:** October 27, 2019, 03:55:47 pm »

The above coin is my 81st coin from Taras, and with another on the way I've decided my Taras gallery was becoming a bit unruly, so I've split in into two separate galleries... Major Coins for the drachms and didrachms, and Minor Coins for the diobols, fractions and bronzes.
I hope this makes it easier to browse.

- Peter

Jay GT4 · « **Reply #218 on:** October 28, 2019, 12:36:54 am »

Nice job Pete

Enodia · « **Reply #219 on:** October 29, 2019, 03:11:54 pm »

Thanks Jay!

Yesterday I received this didrachm from Forvm...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-158399

This is a fairly rare variety signed by 'H', who only engraved a very few dies during what Sir Arthur Evans labelled The Age of Archytas (280-245 BC)., and this is the second H signature in my collection.

- Peter

Arne S · « **Reply #220 on:** November 20, 2019, 10:04:43 am »

Beautiful coins!

Enodia · « **Reply #221 on:** November 20, 2019, 01:20:28 pm »

Thank you Arne, that's always nice to hear. ☺

- Peter

quadrans · « **Reply #222 on:** December 01, 2019, 04:25:06 am »

Nice piece, Peter,

Joe/Q.

Enodia · « **Reply #223 on:** December 24, 2019, 03:10:39 pm »

Here's a little Hemilitra I just picked up...
https://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-159318

The left-facing dolphin is less common than the right-facing types, but the real reason I bought this coin is the provenance, which purports to be from the M.P Vlasto collection, although the dealer was not able tp provide documentation of that fact.
It is definitely not a plate coin though, but I still like it.

- Peter

Jay GT4 · « **Reply #224 on:** December 24, 2019, 04:35:29 pm »

Great little coin Peter

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Author Topic: My Taras collection (Read 66931 times)