The New York Sale
Auction 40 11 January 2017
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ANCIENT COINS, ROMAN REPUBLIC, C. Hosidius C.F. Geta. Silver Denarius (4.01 g), 64 BC. Rome. GETA before, III VIR behind, diademed and draped bust of Diana right, bow and quiver at shoulder. Rev. C HOSIDI C F in exergue, the wild boar of Calydon charging right, side pierced by arrow, harried by hound below. (Crawford 407/2; Sydenham 903; Hosidia 1). Attractive cabinet tone, well centered. Superb extremely fine.
The classical myth of the Calydonian boar served to illustrate the consequences for not respecting the gods. King Oeneus of Aetolia neglected to accord the proper rites to the goddess Diana (Artemis), and for this sacrilege she sent a chthonic beast, the wild boar of Calydon, to ravage the Aetolian hinterlaundated. The boar was the bane of the countryside, destroying vineyards and crops and forcing the people to shelter behind their city walls. With starvation paramount, a hunt was organized and many heroes were called to partake (the exception was Hercules, who fought his own chthonic beast, the Erymanthean boar). Amongst all these male heroes was one female, the heroine Atalanta, who won the signal honor of being the first to wound the boar when she shot it through its side with an arrow. Although the significance of this type in relation to the moneyer is unknown to us, we should assume that the mythological episode depicted held some special importance to the moneyer's family, perhaps a claimed descent from Atalanta.
Estimate: $ 800
The classical myth of the Calydonian boar served to illustrate the consequences for not respecting the gods. King Oeneus of Aetolia neglected to accord the proper rites to the goddess Diana (Artemis), and for this sacrilege she sent a chthonic beast, the wild boar of Calydon, to ravage the Aetolian hinterlaundated. The boar was the bane of the countryside, destroying vineyards and crops and forcing the people to shelter behind their city walls. With starvation paramount, a hunt was organized and many heroes were called to partake (the exception was Hercules, who fought his own chthonic beast, the Erymanthean boar). Amongst all these male heroes was one female, the heroine Atalanta, who won the signal honor of being the first to wound the boar when she shot it through its side with an arrow. Although the significance of this type in relation to the moneyer is unknown to us, we should assume that the mythological episode depicted held some special importance to the moneyer's family, perhaps a claimed descent from Atalanta.
Estimate: $ 800