The Post Office and CNG conspired again to provide me with great service in the form of the one coin I bought in sale 382 last week. Instead of show and tell, I'll make this a complaint about how hard it is to find detailed information on these coins. The new one is in the lower left. Attributed to Thasos with occasional question marks are the silver coins of a Satyr carrying a Nymph who protests with differing degrees of indignation. Considering these coins were made for about a century starting c. 520 BC, it almost appears that she was getting used to being carried off. Finding information on Satyr coins can be a bit of a task since the things depicted were considered in bad taste for most of the period that produced many of our coin books. The earliest style I have is in the upper left. There is an earlier one which is similar but much smaller in diameter but thicker and heavier than the later coins. You can find them in big catalogs like SNG and a few have turned up in the regular trade. CNG had a nice one: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=57178 The problem with these earliest ones is that some uninformed buyers might be disappointed because the thick series coins are smaller in diameter than their lighter successors. The staters almost look like thick drachms. Online photos do a poor job of transmitting sizes. There are enough people in the know that they still sell for more. My earlier coin shows the diagnostic 'claw' hand of the protesting nymph. Both figures have long hair depicted by dots. High grade coins (not mine) show the dots on the heads but mine have worn away so you get to see the pony tail knots. The Satyr is unclothed but the Nymph seems to be wearing diaphanous pants. Some coins suggest she is wearing a top while others suggest more of a wrap that flows in the wind more than tailored clothing. Worn coins like mine are not clear in this regard. Facial fetures are a bit crude. The Satyr has a pointy beard. Both figures are of athletic build. My example weighs about 9.1g. Most seem to date these to before 480 BC. The new coin, lower left, weighs 8.6g but is considerably wider in diameter (which is why I reshot the three showing relative sizes). Both hands of the Nymph now have fingers (some dies show this better than others) with the one between their faces being very clearly displayed. The hair is now straightened and indicated by lines rather than dots. The Nymph on my coin still wears what I consider a flowing wrap on her torso but her lower parts seem to have a division between the legs suggesting to me that she wore pants of thin material. Some, including mine, have what may be a sleeve around the arm. These could be bracelets. The first stater shows very high relief with deep cutting on the rear end of the Satyr. I am not sure what to make of this region on the new one. Has carrying the woman for so long really built his glutes or is this a die break? Perhaps someone handling a thousand of these knows. I don't. I will point out that the exercise has built up his calves and biceps. Most changed is the rendition of the face of the Satyr. His beard is neat and flowing with nicely separated mustache. These seem to be dated to 480-450 BC give or take a bit. I do not have a stater of the third, latest type dating to the years Thasos was under Athenian influence. My coin was sold to me as a drachm but it weighs half what I expect of a drachm. Is it just very late or do I have a problem. I is as low grade as we see on these so part of the weight missing could be due to this. It does show the characteristic of the later staters which remain on my list. Now the Nymph has her arm around the shoulders of the Satyr. She now wears a garment fitted to her torso rather than a wrap. The reverse punch has been developing and becoming more regular with each period. My poor example has lost the top of the Satyr's head so I can no demonstrate he is now bald. None of my coins show the Satyr's feet. Some earlier ones make these look more like hooves than others but more coins lack feet than have them so studying that feature will take more effort and material. In researching this post I notice that CNG now attributes what I previously knew as a 1/8 stater of Lete as a coin of Thasos. I do not know the source of this reattribution but coins with no legends will always be open to reevaluations. Since I have one, I'll show it. Here the Satyr is alone and has a tail. His hair is dotted like the early staters. All these coins are sold with the term Ithyphallic which is Greek for a term not taught in schools but I find it interesting that a few of our earlier references (Head p.198) go further on this coin using a Latin phrase that will not be translated by many of the online Latin dictionaries. The coins were not popular and are missing from some otherwise larger collections. More interesting is the fact that various listings attribute these coins to different cities and separate them in different manners. We have seen here before early minor silver dolphins from Thasos and much later tetradrachms with Dionysos and Herakles. Does anyone have other coins of the Satyr/nymph series (there are other completely different poses) or other early coins showing hairstyles like any shown on these coins?
Nice catch! Mine is like your new one as far as I can tell... the wear makes discerning the finer details a little difficult. The sleeve of the gown of the nymph seems quite clear, but is the hair flowing and straight, or is it also dotted? The best thing I like about my coin is the well-defined hoof of the satyr. The dates I have on my notes for this one is 463 - 411 BC, though I'm not sure where it's from... perhaps Sear Greek. And because I like it so much, I'll also post my little satyr trihemiobol. I really like the half-left facing pose, and the satyr's musculature is awfully well-engraved for a coin just 11mm in diameter. You can even see his little tail sticking out behind him to the right.
That's a very attractive stater dougsmit although no beads in the hair the coin is still strong with detail, much nicer than your earlier stater, which I think from earlier discussions is similar vintage to my Drachm. I have measured my one at 17mm x 14mm and 3.73gm in wieght. SNG 1014-16 about 525 BC to 463 BC
Those are great big hands, Mentor ... I love your new OP-score (congrats) Yah, as you probably know, I only have this one example with the good ol' claw-chick (but hey, they look pretty happy together)
To much sex in this thread. I'll dull it down with an Æ from Thasos. Thrace, Island of Thasos. 200-1 BC. Æ20 Obv: Diademed & draped bust of Artemis right, bow & quiver over shoulder. Rev: QASIWN, nude Herakles standing right, drawing bow about to shoot an arrow, lionskin around neck.
I'm surprised nobody commented on this, but probably few have Head (though I constantly advise people to get a copy). In delicate modern terms, it means the satyr is holding his, ahem, 'excited' 'third leg'. I hope that is OK for this crowd! Trying to keep it family oriented.
