Nomos AG
obolos 15 24 May 2020
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MYSIA. Cyzicus. Commodus, 177-192. Diassarion (Bronze, 23.5 mm, 7.40 g, 8 h), c. 182-184. AY KAI M AYP KOMMOΔOC Laureate and draped bust of Commodus to right, with a light beard. Rev. KYZIKHNΩN NEOK Youthful athlete, nude, placing a krater on its side atop a square, garlanded altar. Apparently unpublished and unknown. Attractive brown-red toning, and with a particularly unusual reverse depiction. Surface roughness, otherwise, good very fine.
What, precisely, is actually going on in the scene on the reverse of this coin is really uncertain. We have a nude young man holding what is clearly a krater - with a wide mouth, tall foot and curious, small side handles - on its side on a low, apparently square altar ornamented with garlands on its sides. He steadies the krater with his left hand while he seems to touching the inner rim with his right: is he preparing to reach in and clean the vessel out? Why would he do so on an altar? The best explanation is that this scene is part of a ritual known to the coin's contemporaries, but which is now obscure (in fact, very obscure).
What, precisely, is actually going on in the scene on the reverse of this coin is really uncertain. We have a nude young man holding what is clearly a krater - with a wide mouth, tall foot and curious, small side handles - on its side on a low, apparently square altar ornamented with garlands on its sides. He steadies the krater with his left hand while he seems to touching the inner rim with his right: is he preparing to reach in and clean the vessel out? Why would he do so on an altar? The best explanation is that this scene is part of a ritual known to the coin's contemporaries, but which is now obscure (in fact, very obscure).