Numismatica Ars Classica
Auction 138 18-19 May 2023
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Campania, Cuma.
Didrachm cira 430-421, AR 7.58 g. Diademed female head r. ; behind neck, Σ. Rev. KYMAION Mussel shell r., above, Cerberus standing r. Rutter 76. SNG ANS 237. Historia Numorum Italy 528.
Extremely rare, apparently the only specimen in private hands, of this important
and intriguing issue. Light iridescent tone and about extremely fine
Ex Leu sale 86, 2003, 197.
Cumae was the earliest Greek colony found in Magna Grecia, founded by Euboeans, who had previously settled at Πιθηκο?σσαι (Ischia). Their coinage began to be minted around 475 BC, after the great defeat of the Etruscans at sea off the coast of Cumae. After a brief period of experiment using the Attic and Chalcidian weight standards, the Phocaic standard adopted by Velia came to be used at Cumae and other Campanian cities. The types display considerable variety and, especially, around 430-420 BC, a second class of more mythological symbols began to appear on the coins, such as with this specimen. On the obverse, the female head may perhaps represent the nymph Kyme as a personification of the city, or possibly the famous Cumaean sibyl or the siren Parthenope. On the reverse, however, the mussel-shell is an example of the παρασημον of a city borrowed from among the natural products of the locality; the shallow salt-lakes Avernus and Lucrinus being particularly adapted to the cultivation of shellfish. On the mussel, we find the triple-headed Cerberus, the monstrous offspring of Echidna, the mother of all monsters, and Typhon, the deadliest beast of Greek mythology. It was a natural choice for a poleis in whose neighbourhood was an entrance to the underworld (according Scymnus of Chios) and a cult of its guardian. It is tempting to also find an allusion to Heracles, whose myth was strongly present in Campania, and whose last and crowning labour was to bring Cerberus up from Tartarus.
Didrachm cira 430-421, AR 7.58 g. Diademed female head r. ; behind neck, Σ. Rev. KYMAION Mussel shell r., above, Cerberus standing r. Rutter 76. SNG ANS 237. Historia Numorum Italy 528.
Extremely rare, apparently the only specimen in private hands, of this important
and intriguing issue. Light iridescent tone and about extremely fine
Ex Leu sale 86, 2003, 197.
Cumae was the earliest Greek colony found in Magna Grecia, founded by Euboeans, who had previously settled at Πιθηκο?σσαι (Ischia). Their coinage began to be minted around 475 BC, after the great defeat of the Etruscans at sea off the coast of Cumae. After a brief period of experiment using the Attic and Chalcidian weight standards, the Phocaic standard adopted by Velia came to be used at Cumae and other Campanian cities. The types display considerable variety and, especially, around 430-420 BC, a second class of more mythological symbols began to appear on the coins, such as with this specimen. On the obverse, the female head may perhaps represent the nymph Kyme as a personification of the city, or possibly the famous Cumaean sibyl or the siren Parthenope. On the reverse, however, the mussel-shell is an example of the παρασημον of a city borrowed from among the natural products of the locality; the shallow salt-lakes Avernus and Lucrinus being particularly adapted to the cultivation of shellfish. On the mussel, we find the triple-headed Cerberus, the monstrous offspring of Echidna, the mother of all monsters, and Typhon, the deadliest beast of Greek mythology. It was a natural choice for a poleis in whose neighbourhood was an entrance to the underworld (according Scymnus of Chios) and a cult of its guardian. It is tempting to also find an allusion to Heracles, whose myth was strongly present in Campania, and whose last and crowning labour was to bring Cerberus up from Tartarus.