Nomos AG
Auction 26 21 May 2023
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LUCANIA. Metapontum. 325-275 BC. Diobol (Silver, 12.5 mm, 1.28 g, 3 h), Sa.... Head of Apollo Karneios to left, ram's horn around his ear; below chin, ΣΑ. Rev. ΜΕΤΑ Ear of barley with leaf to right; on leaf, owl standing right with grasshopper; below right, Π. HN Italy 1601 (misdescribed). Johnston F7.1 = SNG Lockett 431 (same dies). Very well-centered and attractively toned. About extremely fine.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions.
This is a well-designed coin of great beauty showing a fine head of a rather unusual, and archaic, Greek god. Apollo Karneios was a god centered in Sparta, but worshipped in other parts of the Peloponnesos and further away. He was, in some ways, connected with Zeus Ammon, who also has a ram's horn, but this is surely due to the colonisation process that linked Sparta with Kyrene. Why he should appear on the coinage of Metapontum is unclear: it might possibly be a reference to Kleonymos of Sparta who took Metapontum in 303 BC, but then again, it might not. The appearance of the owl and the grasshopper on the reverse refers to the owl's role as a protector of the grain fields.
From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions.
This is a well-designed coin of great beauty showing a fine head of a rather unusual, and archaic, Greek god. Apollo Karneios was a god centered in Sparta, but worshipped in other parts of the Peloponnesos and further away. He was, in some ways, connected with Zeus Ammon, who also has a ram's horn, but this is surely due to the colonisation process that linked Sparta with Kyrene. Why he should appear on the coinage of Metapontum is unclear: it might possibly be a reference to Kleonymos of Sparta who took Metapontum in 303 BC, but then again, it might not. The appearance of the owl and the grasshopper on the reverse refers to the owl's role as a protector of the grain fields.