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Sale 96
Lot 1508
Lucania, Sybaris. Silver Nomos (7.81 g), ca. 550-510 BC. VM (=ΣY) in exergue, bull standing left, head turned to look back. Reverse: Incuse of obverse. Gorini 5; SNG ANS 828-44; HN Italy 1729. Well struck on a nice clean flan free from the cracks that are usually seen on this rare incuse issue. Uniform light grey tone. About Extremely Fine. Estimate Value $2,500 - 3,000
The reverse depiction of Athena is a wonderful example of the intricate - almost bordering on baroque- detail of which Archaic die-engravers were capable. The almond-shaped facing eye is clear and a primary indicator of the Archaic style, while the scrollwork on the bowl of the helmet seems to prefigure the palmette used on the goddess' helmet on Athenian tetradrachms in the fifth century BC. The Methymnian helmet is distinct in its use of a Pegasos decoration on the forehead. The winged horse may allude to Athena's use of the aegis - a goatskin shield adorned with the head of Medusa. The stare of Medusa was able to turn men into stone, but when she was killed and her head taken by the hero Perseus, she is said to have given birth to Pegasos and the hero Chrysaor in her death throes.
The obverse features a wild boar - a popular image for coins struck on Lesbos - with his head lowered and about to charge. It is an attractive illustration that reflects the engraver's close attention to the natural world as well as his artistic stylization. The animal's crest is especially well executed and is reminiscent of the crests on contemporary hoplite helmets.
The Hanbery Collection; Ex CNA II (7 November 1987), 19.
This nomos of Sybaris belongs to a larger group of Archaic coins struck by the Greek colonies of Southern Italy that feature thin fabric and raised obverse and matching incuse reverse designs. The process for producing such coins was highly technical, requiring the creation of reverse dies that would properly match the obverse dies, but it remains unclear as to why this unusual coinage was struck by cities like Sybaris, Metapontion, Kroton, Kaulonia, Poseidonia, and Taras. Various speculative explanations have included the desire to produce coins that could be stacked easily, the desire to create a regional currency, protection against counterfeiting, and the need to obliterate the types of imported foreign coin. Perhaps the least problematic of the suggestions to date is that the coinage evolved out of a local tradition of repousse metalwork.
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| Realized $3,643 |
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