Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction X 27 September 2015
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Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Campano-Tarentine issue. Circa 281-228 BC. Diademed head of the nymph Satyra left wearing triple-drop earring / Nude youth on horseback right, crowning horse with raised left foreleg; TA and dolphin below, cornucopiae behind. Vlasto 1038ff; SNG ANS 1288; HN Italy 1098; Volcano hoard IGCH 2210. 7.00g, 21mm, 12h.
Near Extremely Fine, and the best example offered for sale in many years. Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Gorny & Mosch 199, 10 October 2011, lot 27.
The Campano-Tarentine series dates to around the middle of the 3rd century BC, and are usually said to have been struck somewhere in Campania or Lucania. The type displays not the usual horseman and dolphin rider combination, but instead the obverse is occupied by a nymph resembling those on the coinage of Neapolis. Furthermore, the coins are struck on the standard not of Tarentum, being 0.8 grams lighter on average, but of those cities on the west coast of Magna Graecia, hence the credence given to this theory. However, the question of where these coins were struck and which region they were intended for, was addressed by J.G. Milne (An Exchange-Currency of Magna Graecia), who convincingly argues that it was more likely they were produced in Tarentum for circulation in or trade with the Greek cities of Bruttium, and that they should therefore be properly referred to as Bruttio-Tarentine coinage.
Near Extremely Fine, and the best example offered for sale in many years. Rare.
From the Ambrose Collection;
Ex Gorny & Mosch 199, 10 October 2011, lot 27.
The Campano-Tarentine series dates to around the middle of the 3rd century BC, and are usually said to have been struck somewhere in Campania or Lucania. The type displays not the usual horseman and dolphin rider combination, but instead the obverse is occupied by a nymph resembling those on the coinage of Neapolis. Furthermore, the coins are struck on the standard not of Tarentum, being 0.8 grams lighter on average, but of those cities on the west coast of Magna Graecia, hence the credence given to this theory. However, the question of where these coins were struck and which region they were intended for, was addressed by J.G. Milne (An Exchange-Currency of Magna Graecia), who convincingly argues that it was more likely they were produced in Tarentum for circulation in or trade with the Greek cities of Bruttium, and that they should therefore be properly referred to as Bruttio-Tarentine coinage.