Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XII 29 September 2016
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Corinthia, Corinth AR Stater. Circa 500-480 BC. Pegasos with curved wing flying to right, Q below / Head of Athena to left, wearing necklace and Corinthian helmet pushed back on head. Pegasi 47; Asyut 563. 8.65g, 19mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine. Very Rare. A superb example of this early type.
From the G.J.P. Collection, purchased c. 1920s.
The types of the Corinthian coins from their earliest days refer to the myth of its most famous son Bellerophon, who with the assistance of the goddess Athena was able to tame the divine winged horse Pegasos. Having been charged with his seemingly impossible mission to slay the Chimaera, Bellerophon consulted the Corinthian seer Polyleidos, who told him he would need the assistance of Pegasos to complete his task. On his advice, Bellerophon slept in the temple of Athena. While he slumbered, he dreamed that Athena set a golden bridle beside him. He awoke to find the bridle, and thus bearing it he approaching Pegasos as he drank from his favoured well of the Peirene on the Acrocorinth, sacred to the muses, and was able to tame him.
The Pegasos staters of Corinth became the principal medium of exchange along all the coasts of the Corinthian Gulf, and even beyond the seas in Italy and Sicily, where the largest hoards of them have historically been found. This is due in part to the distribution of Corinthian colonies and colonists far beyond the range of the mother city's territory, and also due to the practical advantage of the Corinthian coinage over both the Attic and the Aeginetic, which because of its divisional system (1 stater equalled 3 drachms, etc.) it was easily acceptable in the territories of its great rivals. Thus the Corinthian stater was equivalent to an Attic didrachm, while the Corinthian drachm was practically equivalent to an Aeginetic hemidrachm.
Extremely Fine. Very Rare. A superb example of this early type.
From the G.J.P. Collection, purchased c. 1920s.
The types of the Corinthian coins from their earliest days refer to the myth of its most famous son Bellerophon, who with the assistance of the goddess Athena was able to tame the divine winged horse Pegasos. Having been charged with his seemingly impossible mission to slay the Chimaera, Bellerophon consulted the Corinthian seer Polyleidos, who told him he would need the assistance of Pegasos to complete his task. On his advice, Bellerophon slept in the temple of Athena. While he slumbered, he dreamed that Athena set a golden bridle beside him. He awoke to find the bridle, and thus bearing it he approaching Pegasos as he drank from his favoured well of the Peirene on the Acrocorinth, sacred to the muses, and was able to tame him.
The Pegasos staters of Corinth became the principal medium of exchange along all the coasts of the Corinthian Gulf, and even beyond the seas in Italy and Sicily, where the largest hoards of them have historically been found. This is due in part to the distribution of Corinthian colonies and colonists far beyond the range of the mother city's territory, and also due to the practical advantage of the Corinthian coinage over both the Attic and the Aeginetic, which because of its divisional system (1 stater equalled 3 drachms, etc.) it was easily acceptable in the territories of its great rivals. Thus the Corinthian stater was equivalent to an Attic didrachm, while the Corinthian drachm was practically equivalent to an Aeginetic hemidrachm.