Here are a couple of affordable Greek bronzes I picked up recently. They were interesting to me because they feature some mythological characters who aren't your typical big time god or hero. The first one from Apameia in Phyrgia depicts the satyr Marsyas playing the aulos, and the second one from Bithynia has the centaur Chiron with a lyre. PHRYGIA, Apameia AE16, 3.31g Circa 133 - 48 BC. Weber 7030; BMC 47; SNG von Aulock 3472. O: Turreted head of Artemis as Tyche right, bow and quiver over shoulder. R: APAME ARISTA KHFIS to right and left of Marsyas, walking right, naked, but for cloak behind, playing the aulos. Marsyas was a satyr who was famed for his skills on the double-piped reed flute (aulos). He had a musical showdown with Apollo, which he lost. For his hubris in challenging a god, he was flayed alive and had his skin nailed to a pine tree. Brutal. KINGDOM OF BITHYNIA Prusias II Cynegus (183 - 149 BC) AE22, 4.5g RecGen 26; SNG Cop 635; Sear 7266. O: Head of Dionysos right wreathed with ivy. R: BASILEWS PROUSIOU, centaur Chiron wearing a cloak, and playing a lyre, advancing right, monogram beneath leg. Chiron was known as the noblest of the centaurs in Greek myth. He was a healer, oracle, and hunter. He raised Asclepius and instructed him in the art of healing, he taught Achilles how to play the lyre, and tutored other heroes such as Jason, Actaeon and Perseus. Much later, according to the Percy Jackson books, he became some sort a summer camp activities director. I'd be happy to see any other coins from Apameia, or the Bithynian Kingdom, or have centaurs, satyrs, or any of the lesser known mythological characters.
The flaying of Marsyas is available on a drachm of Alexandria but I don't have it. It is not a cheap one. The common Marsyas ia a Republican denarius. Mine is fourree and once belonged to someone who painted numbers on coins. The easiest to find centaur is Gallienus.
Love the story of Marsyas. Here is my only one: L CENSORINUS ROMAN REPUBLIC; GENS MARCIA AR Denarius OBVERSE: Laureate head of Apollo right REVERSE: L CENSOR, the satyr, Marsyas, standing left with wineskin over shoulder; behind him, column surmounted by draped figure (Minerva?) Rome 82 BC 3.66g, 17mm Cr363/1d, Marcia 24
Thanks for the comments. I love that Republican denarius too but have yet to get myself one. The Alexandrian drachm I will have to look up... especially if it depicts the actual flaying.
See Emmitt page 77 or Sayles volume IV page 101. The best of these are low enough grade not to be all that graphic. You see a guy hanging in a tree and Apollo playing his lyre. Condition snobs can not collect Alexandrian drachms. There just are not all that many FDC examples.
