I've been a fan of the iconic Corinth staters ever since I bought my first one last December, so my eyes were literally popping when the last Roma auction had several DOZEN examples from the John Hayes Collection, many of them stunning, some of them very rare. I went from telling myself to just whistle appreciatively from afar, to considering perhaps maybe buying one of the coins if my budget would allow, to actually bidding and winning one of them. And I still somehow ended up with two This first one I bought specifically for that little Chimaera creeping about behind Athena's head. There are other equally cool symbols, but I couldn't think of another one more apt given the legend of the hero Bellerophon riding the Pegasos when he killed the Chimaera that had been terrorizing the countryside of Caria and Lycia. CORINTHIA, Corinth Circa 345 - 307 BC AR Stater, 8.56g, 21mm. Pegasi 428; Ravel 1010. O: Pegasos flying left, Q below. R: Helmeted head of Athena left, helmet decorated with laurel wreath, Chimaera stalking behind, A-P below. Ex John Hayes Collection
This second one sports a rare symbol, a curious-looking 'pudenda virilia' (info below). I had the lot on my watch list, but missed it during the live auction. When I discovered it had gone unsold, I had another opportunity to pick it up. TIF jokingly (I think) threatened to buy it, and that helped me make my mind up pretty quickly. CORINTHIA, Corinth Circa 400 - 375 BC AR Stater, 8.37g, 22mm. Pegasi 155; Ravel 599. O: Pegasos flying left, Q below. R: Helmeted head of Athena right, EYT (retrograde) before, 'pudenda virilia' behind. Ex John Hayes Collection Ex Veilinghuis Eeckhout Auction 7 Lot 11 (12 November 2011) This is the same coin that John Hayes uses to picture Pegasi 155 on his excellent Corinth stater resource website corinthstaters.com. The 'pudenda virilia' is the delicate term used in references to describe the male sexual organs. As you can see it hardly looks realistic and hence I didn't feel a need to pixelate the image. Here's abit more info from the glossary of symbols on http://www.corinthstaters.com/ : In Ravel's "Les Poulains de Corinthe" he quotes "This symbol is undoubtedly apotropaic and, still nowadays, in certain regions of Greece, there is the superstition which these parts are strongly protective against the bad fate." Apotropaic magic is a ritual observance that is intended to turn away evil. In ancient Greece, phalli were believed to have apotropaic qualities. (source Wikipedia) And now we've had the word 'apotropaic' mentioned in two threads in as many days
Beautiful! And yes, it was a semi-serious threat Must've missed the word 'apotropaic' previously. I did not know that word and will strive to use it in a sentence a few times today. That should be challenging!
I gave a small talk once on sexual imagery on classical coinage. I missed this in my review, partly because I tend to give precedence to the main coinage types and avoid the minor symbols. Well done.
Wow Zumbly, awesome coins, details off the charts, this is one i want to get myself someday. i don't think i've seen a right facing Athena,very nice..
That must have been some talk! I've seen this symbol noted as 'pudenda virilia' with a question mark. Perhaps not everyone agrees with it being described as such because of how unrealistic it looks? My guess would be that a purposely atavistic style was used, and that this may be the case if the superstitions were old even at that time. Certainly the average fascinus and even the phallic columns of Delos look more realistic. I have however seen a symbol of similar style also described as 'pudenda virilia' on an aes signatum.
Thanks, Eng. The left facing ones do seem to be more common, though I don't think the right facing ones are particularly rare. What I hadn't known was that the pegasi come in almost two dozen different poses, and that there are well over 100 unique symbols on the reverses!
Awesome nice coins Zumbly. My stater has a great reverse (IMHO). Unfortunately, the obverse looks like it was struck by a very worn die. CORINTHIA, Corinth AR Stater ca. 400 B.C. 8.29 grams, 21 mm Obv: Pegasos w/ artfully pointed wing flying left Rev: Head of Athena left wearing Corinthian helmet, porpoise above and palmette behind. Grade: aVF with beautiful toning and unusual fine style on both obverse & reverse. Athena, porpois, and palmette are strong. Pegasos is softly struck possibly from worn dies. Other: Ex Christies Oct 1983 lot #25. From Dr Salslow coins Nov 2011.
But you have a chimera you lucky puppy. You also have an Iota that might be added to the description: R: Helmeted head of Athena left, helmet decorated with laurel wreath, Chimaera stalking behind, Iota above, A-P below.
Holy Moly, Z-Bro!! => those are a couple of super sweet ponies!! (you too, Collect89) ... congrats, fellas!! Hey, I have an example as well ... ummm, it may not be quite as as sweet as your offerings, but it is my baby, so enjoy ...
Thanks for the comments, everyone. I'll hopefully be able to add to my little stable every now and then. Steve, I always like seeing that colt of yours... great portrait!
Wow, thanks for the coin-compliment, Z-bro ... => but it's all about "your" 2 awesome new coins!! Cha-ching and Mutha Cha-ching II => fantastic additions, my coin-friend!! Cheers!!
several things.. 1. wonderful new coins Z! 2. i had no clue what apotropaic meant or what a pudenda virilia was. 3. i thought the pundenda virilia was a a milkshake rotated clockwise to 4 o'clock... am i right???!!! ...don't order a pundenda virilia at dairy queen!