Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XVIII 29 Sep 2019
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Lucania, Sybaris AR Stater. Circa 525-514 BC. Bull standing left, head reverted; MVBAPITAM retrograde in exergue / Incuse bull standing right, head reverted; above, MV (retrograde). For the only other published example from the same dies see: Berlin Staatliche Museum, 1879/163 (from the Cittanova hoard, IGCH 1889) [= Traité II.1, 2094 = HN Italy 1731 = Gorini p. 104 = E. Spagnoli, La prima moneta in Magna Grecia: il caso Siberi, Napoli 2013, Phase B, 111 (D88/R91) = F. Barritta, Considerazioni sull monetazione sibarita, Tricase (LE) 2013, Class E, 203]. 7.50g, 28mm, 12h.
Extremely Fine. Apparently only the second known example.
Ex Bertolami Fine Arts Auction 44, 20 April 2018, lot 46;
Ex Monegasque private collection.
Established during the last quarter of the 8th century BC by Achaian and Troezenian settlers (Greeks from the Northern Peloponnese), the city of Sybaris was a 'text-book' nucleus of the area later to become known as Magna Graecia, today's Southern Italy. Ideally positioned on a fertile plain between two rivers, the Kathis and the Sybaris, and just off the Gulf of Taranto, the city had a perimeter of 9-10 km according to Strabo (6.1.1). Sybaris was in the position to both build a strong self-sufficient foundation and benefit from direct access to thriving Mediterranean trade and communication routes: a typically 'cosmopolitan' apoikia (Horden & Purcell, 2000, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History p.396). Diodorus Siculus reports that the population of the city was 100,000 (Diod.10.23, 12.9.2). While no doubt an apocryphal figure, it might not be too divergent, as it is also noted that Sybarites granted citizenship to many foreigners (Diod.12.9.2) thereby exponentially increasing their population. The city's inhabitants became famous for their lives of luxury, to the extent that 'Sybarite' and 'Sybaritic' have become bywords for opulence.
It was in this context of growth and prosperity that the Sybarites started minting the first coinage of Southern Italy, which went into circulation between 550 and 530 BC. The image of the bull seen here was prolific across all their coinage, possibly a direct reflection of the importance livestock raising had for the city's success (Rutter, 1968, Sybaris- Legend and Reality), but it has also been interpreted as a river divinity (Fischer-Hansen, Nielsen and Ampolo, 2004, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, p.298). Sybaris' golden period came to an end with internal strife and multiple wars against Kroton from 510 BC onwards, making this coin part of a short and unique moment in Sybaris' history.
Struck on the Achaian standard, the early coinage of Sybaris was produced using the incuse technique, where the relief design on the obverse was repeated intaglio on the reverse- a method that required great skill and expertise. The ethnics often inscribed in exergue are VM and MV. While VM can be seen on the reverse of this coin too, on its obverse the full legend MVBAPITAM is inscribed in exergue, making this coin of the highest rarity. The legend MVBAPITAM ('Sybaritas') retrograde, uniquely spells out the city ethnic in full. The ethnic is rendered in the singular male nominative, which implies the word stater; therefore, if read as an adjective it informs us that this coin is a 'stater' of the city (a convincing theory subscribed to by Spagnoli p. 197 note 99 and Berratta p. 57, note 335 and p. 59, note 346, citing M. Guarducci, L'epigrafia greca dalle origini al tardo Impero I, Roma 2005, pp. 111-2).
Extremely Fine. Apparently only the second known example.
Ex Bertolami Fine Arts Auction 44, 20 April 2018, lot 46;
Ex Monegasque private collection.
Established during the last quarter of the 8th century BC by Achaian and Troezenian settlers (Greeks from the Northern Peloponnese), the city of Sybaris was a 'text-book' nucleus of the area later to become known as Magna Graecia, today's Southern Italy. Ideally positioned on a fertile plain between two rivers, the Kathis and the Sybaris, and just off the Gulf of Taranto, the city had a perimeter of 9-10 km according to Strabo (6.1.1). Sybaris was in the position to both build a strong self-sufficient foundation and benefit from direct access to thriving Mediterranean trade and communication routes: a typically 'cosmopolitan' apoikia (Horden & Purcell, 2000, The Corrupting Sea: A Study of Mediterranean History p.396). Diodorus Siculus reports that the population of the city was 100,000 (Diod.10.23, 12.9.2). While no doubt an apocryphal figure, it might not be too divergent, as it is also noted that Sybarites granted citizenship to many foreigners (Diod.12.9.2) thereby exponentially increasing their population. The city's inhabitants became famous for their lives of luxury, to the extent that 'Sybarite' and 'Sybaritic' have become bywords for opulence.
It was in this context of growth and prosperity that the Sybarites started minting the first coinage of Southern Italy, which went into circulation between 550 and 530 BC. The image of the bull seen here was prolific across all their coinage, possibly a direct reflection of the importance livestock raising had for the city's success (Rutter, 1968, Sybaris- Legend and Reality), but it has also been interpreted as a river divinity (Fischer-Hansen, Nielsen and Ampolo, 2004, An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, p.298). Sybaris' golden period came to an end with internal strife and multiple wars against Kroton from 510 BC onwards, making this coin part of a short and unique moment in Sybaris' history.
Struck on the Achaian standard, the early coinage of Sybaris was produced using the incuse technique, where the relief design on the obverse was repeated intaglio on the reverse- a method that required great skill and expertise. The ethnics often inscribed in exergue are VM and MV. While VM can be seen on the reverse of this coin too, on its obverse the full legend MVBAPITAM is inscribed in exergue, making this coin of the highest rarity. The legend MVBAPITAM ('Sybaritas') retrograde, uniquely spells out the city ethnic in full. The ethnic is rendered in the singular male nominative, which implies the word stater; therefore, if read as an adjective it informs us that this coin is a 'stater' of the city (a convincing theory subscribed to by Spagnoli p. 197 note 99 and Berratta p. 57, note 335 and p. 59, note 346, citing M. Guarducci, L'epigrafia greca dalle origini al tardo Impero I, Roma 2005, pp. 111-2).