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Taras, Calabria
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272-240/35 BC
AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.95g)
O: Diademed head of nymph Satyra left, wearing triple-pendant earring.
R: Nude youth on horseback right crowning horse and holding reins; star of eight rays above, dolphin below, TA beneath raised foreleg.
D'Andrea XLIII, 1338; Vlasto 1036-37, Cote 548; McGill II, 131; SNG ANS 1301; SNG Cop 904; HN Italy 1098; Sear 366v
ex Praefectus Coins
These so-called Campano-Tarentine (or sometimes Bruttio-Tarentine) types are something of a numismatic enigma.
The idea of an alliance was originally put forth in the 19th century due to the apparent similarity of the obverse portraits of this series with the coins of Neapolis and other Campanian cities. However the nymph depicted here is more likely to be the local Satyra rather than Campanian Parthenope, and there is no direct historical evidence of any alliance between Taras and the Campanians during this period.
The heavier standard may mean that this series was intended to circulate outside of Taras as a federal issue, or possibly as a trade unit. Further, no coins of this type have been found within the city itself.
It has also been suggested that these coins were struck as tribute to Rome, and the apparent timeframe is in line with such a theory.
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![Taras, Calabria
272-240/35 BC
AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.95g)
O: Diademed head of nymph Satyra left, wearing triple-pendant earring.
R: Nude youth on horseback right crowning horse and holding reins; star of eight rays above, dolphin below, TA beneath raised foreleg.
D'Andrea XLIII, 1338; Vlasto 1036-37, Cote 548; McGill II, 131; SNG ANS 1301; SNG Cop 904; HN Italy 1098; Sear 366v
ex Praefectus Coins
[i]These so-called Campano-Tarentine (or sometimes Bruttio-Tarentine) types are something of a numismatic enigma.
The idea of an alliance was originally put forth in the 19th century due to the apparent similarity of the obverse portraits of this series with the coins of Neapolis and other Campanian cities. However the nymph depicted here is more likely to be the local Satyra rather than Campanian Parthenope, and there is no direct historical evidence of any alliance between Taras and the Campanians during this period.
The heavier standard may mean that this series was intended to circulate outside of Taras as a federal issue, or possibly as a trade unit. Further, no coins of this type have been found within the city itself.
It has also been suggested that these coins were struck as tribute to Rome, and the apparent timeframe is in line with such a theory.[/i]](albums/userpics/21312/normal_CampanoTarentine.JPG "Click to view full size image
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Taras, Calabria
272-240/35 BC
AR Didrachm (20mm, 6.95g)
O: Diademed head of nymph Satyra left, wearing triple-pendant earring.
R: Nude youth on horseback right crowning horse and holding reins; star of eight rays above, dolphin below, TA beneath raised foreleg.
D'Andrea XLIII, 1338; Vlasto 1036-37, Cote 548; McGill II, 131; SNG ANS 1301; SNG Cop 904; HN Italy 1098; Sear 366v
ex Praefectus Coins
[i]These so-called Campano-Tarentine (or sometimes Bruttio-Tarentine) types are something of a numismatic enigma.
The idea of an alliance was originally put forth in the 19th century due to the apparent similarity of the obverse portraits of this series with the coins of Neapolis and other Campanian cities. However the nymph depicted here is more likely to be the local Satyra rather than Campanian Parthenope, and there is no direct historical evidence of any alliance between Taras and the Campanians during this period.
The heavier standard may mean that this series was intended to circulate outside of Taras as a federal issue, or possibly as a trade unit. Further, no coins of this type have been found within the city itself.
It has also been suggested that these coins were struck as tribute to Rome, and the apparent timeframe is in line with such a theory.[/i]")
