Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XXI 24-25 Mar 2021
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Karia, Kos AR Triple Siglos. Circa 480-470 BC. Diskobolos, nude, hurling diskos to right; tripod to left, KOΣ to right / Crab within diagonally divided incuse square. Barron, Diskoboloi in Essays Robinson, group A, 10a (same dies); BMC 8, pl. XXX, 4; Boston MFA 2014; Traité II 1737, pl. 148, 10. 16.41g, 23mm, 10h.
Good Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XVIII, 29 September 2019, lot 638;
Ex collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
Of a style akin to the archaised figural representations on pottery (such as can be seen on a kylix in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts 01.8020), this depiction of a diskobolos exemplifies the skill of numismatic imagery at Kos towards the end of the Archaic and the beginning of the Classical period, as it points to a desire on the part of the die-engraver to attempt a novel and challenging type which required an understanding of movement and symmetria but was limited to the surface of a coin. The success of the die-engraver to capture the moment at which the athlete is about to turn about and release the discus is perhaps not recognised by modern viewers (in the eighteenth century the type was interpreted as Apollo dancing with a tambourine), but it is likely that the die engraver chose this particular pose having been inspired by a statue of a diskobolos made in the early fifth century possibly by Pythagoras of Rhegion, a precursor to Myron's famed Diskobolos. Known as the Ludovisi Diskobolos, two Roman copies of this statue have been discovered which portray the exact same moment as depicted on this coin: one is a herm in the Ludovisi Collection in the Museum Nazionale Romano in Rome, the other is a torso in the Archaeological Museum at Side. These incomplete copies demonstrate an outstanding naturalism of the stretch of the torso muscles as the diskobolos lifts the discus above his head, paused forever in a remarkable moment of athletic tension and fate, an effect that is also achieved on this obverse type, which has the same sense of captivated momentum and includes in the background the prize for which this athlete is competing, a tripod.
Discussion about the origin of this type has centred on whether or not it commemorates the athletic contests held for the festival of Apollo at Triopion on the Knidian peninsula (see Herodotus, Histories 1.114) during which athletes would compete for bronze tripods and then dedicate them to the temple of Apollo at the site. The possibility that the coin was struck in direct association with the games, in a similar way to the coinage of Elis struck only for the Olympic games, is unlikely, however; it must be noted that Kos chose to produce this type as a triple siglos rather than a smaller denomination suggesting that it carried significant connotations with the city. Since none of the other Doric cities minted any coins for this festival, a more likely suggestion is that the coin could therefore relate to prestigious local games at Kos which are unattested elsewhere.
During this period, a great emphasis on individual athletes winning glory for themselves and their cities was apparent in the development of a new form of poetry called epinikion (literally meaning 'on victory'). This style of poetry highlights the attitude of the spectators and the civic importance of athletic contests. It shows that the games were more than just for sport, they tied in with the identity of the community and what it meant to be the best among others: "In such a way, amid the vast circling crowd of the Greeks, did he display his marvellous body, hurling the wheel-shaped discus, and raise a shout from the people as he flung the shaft of the dark-leaved elder-tree from his hand into the steep sky. He executed the flashing movement of wrestling, and brought strong-limbed bodies down to the earth with such high-spirited strength, then returned to the dark-whirling waters of the Asopus, whose fame has reached every land, even the farthest reaches of the Nile." (Bacchylides, Ode 9.30-41)
Regarding the dating of this coin, an Athenian decree prohibiting allied minting would certainly have provided an end to coinage at Kos however, since the dating of this decree itself has been subject to debate, an exact date for this coin is difficult. As Barron notes, we are further restricted by the lack of hoard and overstrike evidence (see The Fifth-Century Diskoboloi of Kos in Kraay-Mørkholm Essays). Further, the similarity of this coin to the Ludovisi Diskobolos is similarly unreliable for dating the coin since we cannot be certain that the similarity between the poses points precisely to one appearing before the other.
Therefore, the diskobolos triple-sigloi are not only among the rarest but are also some of the most exceptional Greek coins produced in the early fifth century due to their attempt to depict on a coin a challenging and novel subject in a style not seen on earlier coinage. They are also fascinating as the precise details of their purpose and date remain unanswered.
Good Fine. Extremely Rare.
Ex Roma Numismatics Ltd., Auction XVIII, 29 September 2019, lot 638;
Ex collection of an antiquarian, Bavaria c. 1960s-1990s.
Of a style akin to the archaised figural representations on pottery (such as can be seen on a kylix in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts 01.8020), this depiction of a diskobolos exemplifies the skill of numismatic imagery at Kos towards the end of the Archaic and the beginning of the Classical period, as it points to a desire on the part of the die-engraver to attempt a novel and challenging type which required an understanding of movement and symmetria but was limited to the surface of a coin. The success of the die-engraver to capture the moment at which the athlete is about to turn about and release the discus is perhaps not recognised by modern viewers (in the eighteenth century the type was interpreted as Apollo dancing with a tambourine), but it is likely that the die engraver chose this particular pose having been inspired by a statue of a diskobolos made in the early fifth century possibly by Pythagoras of Rhegion, a precursor to Myron's famed Diskobolos. Known as the Ludovisi Diskobolos, two Roman copies of this statue have been discovered which portray the exact same moment as depicted on this coin: one is a herm in the Ludovisi Collection in the Museum Nazionale Romano in Rome, the other is a torso in the Archaeological Museum at Side. These incomplete copies demonstrate an outstanding naturalism of the stretch of the torso muscles as the diskobolos lifts the discus above his head, paused forever in a remarkable moment of athletic tension and fate, an effect that is also achieved on this obverse type, which has the same sense of captivated momentum and includes in the background the prize for which this athlete is competing, a tripod.
Discussion about the origin of this type has centred on whether or not it commemorates the athletic contests held for the festival of Apollo at Triopion on the Knidian peninsula (see Herodotus, Histories 1.114) during which athletes would compete for bronze tripods and then dedicate them to the temple of Apollo at the site. The possibility that the coin was struck in direct association with the games, in a similar way to the coinage of Elis struck only for the Olympic games, is unlikely, however; it must be noted that Kos chose to produce this type as a triple siglos rather than a smaller denomination suggesting that it carried significant connotations with the city. Since none of the other Doric cities minted any coins for this festival, a more likely suggestion is that the coin could therefore relate to prestigious local games at Kos which are unattested elsewhere.
During this period, a great emphasis on individual athletes winning glory for themselves and their cities was apparent in the development of a new form of poetry called epinikion (literally meaning 'on victory'). This style of poetry highlights the attitude of the spectators and the civic importance of athletic contests. It shows that the games were more than just for sport, they tied in with the identity of the community and what it meant to be the best among others: "In such a way, amid the vast circling crowd of the Greeks, did he display his marvellous body, hurling the wheel-shaped discus, and raise a shout from the people as he flung the shaft of the dark-leaved elder-tree from his hand into the steep sky. He executed the flashing movement of wrestling, and brought strong-limbed bodies down to the earth with such high-spirited strength, then returned to the dark-whirling waters of the Asopus, whose fame has reached every land, even the farthest reaches of the Nile." (Bacchylides, Ode 9.30-41)
Regarding the dating of this coin, an Athenian decree prohibiting allied minting would certainly have provided an end to coinage at Kos however, since the dating of this decree itself has been subject to debate, an exact date for this coin is difficult. As Barron notes, we are further restricted by the lack of hoard and overstrike evidence (see The Fifth-Century Diskoboloi of Kos in Kraay-Mørkholm Essays). Further, the similarity of this coin to the Ludovisi Diskobolos is similarly unreliable for dating the coin since we cannot be certain that the similarity between the poses points precisely to one appearing before the other.
Therefore, the diskobolos triple-sigloi are not only among the rarest but are also some of the most exceptional Greek coins produced in the early fifth century due to their attempt to depict on a coin a challenging and novel subject in a style not seen on earlier coinage. They are also fascinating as the precise details of their purpose and date remain unanswered.