Tarentum AR Nomos

That is a coin to crow about. It seems there is a huge spread in the values of these... often I have seen attractive examples and been shocked by the cost only to see a not too dissimilar coin for a tenth of the price. Yours is a decent example, pretty well centred, pretty good details and good eye appeal. Congratulations.

There is a statue in London opposite to The Ritz of a naked youth on horseback, whenever I walk past it I think of this coin type. I have looked online but I find no reference to it. It can be seen on Google streetview though https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5...m1!1e1?hl=en

The British museum has a Roman sculpture in marble though https://www.britishmuseum.org/explo...rseback.aspx

The rose garden in Hyde park has a boy on the back of a dolphin too https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...4419310).jpg

So I regularly get reminded of this coin but I still have no clue about the story or significance to the imagery. Does anyone know the story?

I don't know the exact story of the coin, but given the imagery of the dolphin and the grape cluster I'm guessing it's related to Dionysius, but that's just my speculation. It is a really lovely type, so lovely that I think I may change my avatar for the first time in a long while. I'm overjoyed with this coin.

I would rule out the Dionysus theory since each of these coins has a different symbol (yours has grapes but they come with owls, hawks, helmets, amphora's, bulls heads, ears of corn and all sorts of things) The story of Troilus might fit it quite well date wise.

From Wiki:
"Troilus is an adolescent boy or ephebe, the son of Hecuba, queen of Troy. As he is so beautiful, Troilus is taken to be the son of the god Apollo. However, Hecuba's husband, King Priam, treats him as his own much-loved child.

A prophecy says that Troy will not fall if Troilus lives into adulthood. So the goddess Athena encourages the Greek warrior Achilles to seek him out early in the Trojan War. The youth is known to take great delight in his horses. Achilles ambushes him and his sister Polyxena when he has ridden with her for water from a well in the Thymbra - an area outside Troy where there is a temple of Apollo.

The Greek is struck by the beauty of both Trojans and is filled with lust. It is the fleeing Troilus whom swift-footed Achilles catches, dragging him by the hair from his horse. The young prince refuses to yield to Achilles' sexual attentions and somehow escapes, taking refuge in the nearby temple. But the warrior follows him in, and beheads him at the altar before help can arrive. The murderer then mutilates the boy's body. The mourning of the Trojans at Troilus' death is great.

This sacrilege leads to Achilles' own death, when Apollo avenges himself by helping Paris strike Achilles with the arrow that pierces his heel."


If I had a few quid kicking around at the moment (which I don't) I think I could do worse than this one: http://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/kla...Default.aspx

I will add it to my watch list in case the lottery is favourable...

That's a very interesting example david, very stylized, I like it. Here's to wishing you the luck that you can get It one of these days! And thanks Bob!

Oo good info Antwerpen...

SO the reverse is Taras?

Wiki says " Taras was rescued from a shipwreck by a dolphin sent by his father. The city, located on the site where he was brought ashore, was named in his honor. The horsemen, who range from boys to youths, nude to armed, are engaged in a wide variety of activities, possibly alluding to the many equestrian athletic events held at Taras.

Said to have traversed the sea from the promontory of Taenarum to the south of Italy, riding on a dolphin, and to have founded Tarentum in Italy where he was worshipped as a hero."

So the horsemen refer to whom? Am I way off with the Troilus theory? How far was Troy from Tarentum? The trouble seems to be there are lots of references to Troilus, but Homers full story was lost and the only stuff that is known is through brief references to the story in poems and other authors works.

I just looked at a map... I see its not far. Troy is to the East o the same latitude, just need to sail around the tip of Greece which is in between the two.

I love these old stories...half myths but perhaps based on some truths too. Hard to like the coins and not be interested in the subject matter too.

Yeah, when I say close I don't mean I could swim there...

I mean close enough the two places would have had regular trade and exchange of information between them...

I felt so sorry for Odusseus's dog when he finally made it... he ignored the poor creature so it took itself off to die :(