Ares Numismatics
Web Auction 2 28 Sep 2019
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A lead theriac seal of a medecine bottle, (year 1608)
Dimensions: ... mm Weight: ... gr. Condition: VF. Brown natural patina.
Obverse: A man's head to right between flower leaves, over a line, under which the
date •1608•, all within a double linear border, bearing a latin inscription:
•TERIACINA•....
Reverse: Flat.
Note: Theriac or theriaca is a medical concoction originally formulated by
the Greeks in the 1st century AD and widely adopted in the ancient world as far away
as Persia, China and Indiavia the trading links of the Silk Route. It was
an alexipharmic, or antidote, considered a panacea, for which it could serve as
a synonym: in the 16th century Adam Lonicer wrote that garlic was the rustic's theriac
or Heal-All. The word theriac comes from the Greek term θηριακή (thēriakē), a
feminine adjective signifying "pertaining to animals", from θηρίον (thērion), "wild
animal, beast". The ancient bestiaries included information-often fanciful-about
dangerous beasts and their bites. When cane sugar was an exotic Eastern commodity,
the English recommended the sugar-based treacle as an antidote against poison,
originally applied as a salve. By extension, treacle could be applied to any healing
property: in the Middle Ages the treacle (i.e.healing) well at Binsey was a place of
pilgrimage. Norman Cantor observes that the remedy was homeopathic in its supposed
effect, following the principle of "the hair of the dog," in which a concoction
containing some of the poisonous (it was thought) flesh of the serpent would be a
sovereign remedy against the creature's venom: in his book on medicine, Henry of
Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster wrote that "the treacle is made of poison so that it
can destroy other poisons". Thinking by analogy, Henry Grosmont also thought of
theriac as a moral curative, the medicine "to make a man reject the poisonous sin
which has entered into his soul." Since the plague, and notably the Black Death, was
believed to have been sent by God as a punishment for sin and had its origins in
pestilential serpents that poisoned the rivers, theriac was a particularly appropriate
remedy or therapeutic. By contrast, Christiane Fabbri argues[11] that theriac, which
very frequently contained opium, actually did have palliative effect against pain and
reduced coughing and diarrhea (cf. Wikipaedia).
Condition: Very Fine
Weight: 16.30gr
Diameter: 39.93mm
From a Private Dutch, Collection.
Dimensions: ... mm Weight: ... gr. Condition: VF. Brown natural patina.
Obverse: A man's head to right between flower leaves, over a line, under which the
date •1608•, all within a double linear border, bearing a latin inscription:
•TERIACINA•....
Reverse: Flat.
Note: Theriac or theriaca is a medical concoction originally formulated by
the Greeks in the 1st century AD and widely adopted in the ancient world as far away
as Persia, China and Indiavia the trading links of the Silk Route. It was
an alexipharmic, or antidote, considered a panacea, for which it could serve as
a synonym: in the 16th century Adam Lonicer wrote that garlic was the rustic's theriac
or Heal-All. The word theriac comes from the Greek term θηριακή (thēriakē), a
feminine adjective signifying "pertaining to animals", from θηρίον (thērion), "wild
animal, beast". The ancient bestiaries included information-often fanciful-about
dangerous beasts and their bites. When cane sugar was an exotic Eastern commodity,
the English recommended the sugar-based treacle as an antidote against poison,
originally applied as a salve. By extension, treacle could be applied to any healing
property: in the Middle Ages the treacle (i.e.healing) well at Binsey was a place of
pilgrimage. Norman Cantor observes that the remedy was homeopathic in its supposed
effect, following the principle of "the hair of the dog," in which a concoction
containing some of the poisonous (it was thought) flesh of the serpent would be a
sovereign remedy against the creature's venom: in his book on medicine, Henry of
Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster wrote that "the treacle is made of poison so that it
can destroy other poisons". Thinking by analogy, Henry Grosmont also thought of
theriac as a moral curative, the medicine "to make a man reject the poisonous sin
which has entered into his soul." Since the plague, and notably the Black Death, was
believed to have been sent by God as a punishment for sin and had its origins in
pestilential serpents that poisoned the rivers, theriac was a particularly appropriate
remedy or therapeutic. By contrast, Christiane Fabbri argues[11] that theriac, which
very frequently contained opium, actually did have palliative effect against pain and
reduced coughing and diarrhea (cf. Wikipaedia).
Condition: Very Fine
Weight: 16.30gr
Diameter: 39.93mm
From a Private Dutch, Collection.