Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 116 1 Oct 2019
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Hyria
Didrachm circa 405-400, AR 7.39 g. Head of Athena l., wearing wreathed Attic helmet decorated with owl. Rev. YDINA retrograde Man-headed bull advancing r. Rutter 23. SNG ANS 260. Historia Numorum Italy 539.
Rare. Wonderful old cabinet tone, struck from a worn die on obverse, test cut
on edge at six o'clock on obverse and minor marks on reverse,
otherwise very fine / about extremely fine
Ex Munchner Münzhandlung 177, 1980, 436; Hirsch 157, 1988, 12 and Gorny & Mosch 196, 2011, 1031 sales.
The Hyriani were an obscure Italic people of Campania who may have inhabited a settlement named Hyria. They are known only from their coinage, which features a head of Athena and a standing man-faced bull derived from the contemporary coinage of Neapolis and a variety of Oscan legends that name the people or (apparently) the settlement. It is possible that this coinage might have been struck at Neapolis for the Hyriani in the same way that the city produced coins with the same Athena and man-faced bull types for the neighboring Fenserni and the Campani of Capua. It is unclear whether this shared typology and probable shared mint facility should be taken to indicate political or military domination by Neapolis or some sort of alliance.
Didrachm circa 405-400, AR 7.39 g. Head of Athena l., wearing wreathed Attic helmet decorated with owl. Rev. YDINA retrograde Man-headed bull advancing r. Rutter 23. SNG ANS 260. Historia Numorum Italy 539.
Rare. Wonderful old cabinet tone, struck from a worn die on obverse, test cut
on edge at six o'clock on obverse and minor marks on reverse,
otherwise very fine / about extremely fine
Ex Munchner Münzhandlung 177, 1980, 436; Hirsch 157, 1988, 12 and Gorny & Mosch 196, 2011, 1031 sales.
The Hyriani were an obscure Italic people of Campania who may have inhabited a settlement named Hyria. They are known only from their coinage, which features a head of Athena and a standing man-faced bull derived from the contemporary coinage of Neapolis and a variety of Oscan legends that name the people or (apparently) the settlement. It is possible that this coinage might have been struck at Neapolis for the Hyriani in the same way that the city produced coins with the same Athena and man-faced bull types for the neighboring Fenserni and the Campani of Capua. It is unclear whether this shared typology and probable shared mint facility should be taken to indicate political or military domination by Neapolis or some sort of alliance.