Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos. Campano-Tarentine series, circa 281-228 BC. Head of nymph left, wearing head band and triple pendant earring / Nude youth on horseback right, crowning horse that raises left foreleg; dolphin behind, lion to right below horse, TA below hoof. Vlasto 1020; SNG ANS 1292; HN Italy 1098. 7.30g, 21mm, 4h.
Extremely Fine. Beautiful old cabinet tone.
Ex Comte René Philipon Collection (1870-1936).
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 reverse displays not the usual type of Taras astride a dolphin, and the obverse horseman type is relegated to the reverse, while instead a nymph resembling those on the coinage of Neapolis takes its place. 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.
Extremely Fine. Beautiful old cabinet tone.
Ex Comte René Philipon Collection (1870-1936).
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 reverse displays not the usual type of Taras astride a dolphin, and the obverse horseman type is relegated to the reverse, while instead a nymph resembling those on the coinage of Neapolis takes its place. 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.