Featured My first Tarentum dolphin rider :)

CALABRIA, Tarentum
circa 344-340 BCE per CNG's cataloger; 380-345 BCE per Cote/Ratto;
AR nomos (didrachm); 21 mm, 7.72 gm, 9h
Obv: Warrior, holding small shield in left hand, dismounting from horse galloping left; horizontal T below
Rev: Phalanthos (Taras?), holding helmet in right hand, riding dolphin left; TAPAΣ to upper right, I and waves below
Ref: Fischer-Bossert group 47, 657 (V252/R509); Vlasto 437 (same dies); HN Italy 876; Côte 152
Ex Dr. Spencer Paterson Collection of Ancient Coins, Sept 2019
Slabbed prior to its most recent sale to me and quickly de-slabbed upon arrival; NGC XF, 5/5, 4/5, Fine Style.
Prior sales: CNG's Coin shop (date unknown); Roma Auction 6 lot 327 (Sept 2013)

I love the whole Tarentum "dolphin rider" series but have never managed to make a decision until now. There are just so many types... which one should I buy? Early, middle, or later style? Which type of horse rider-- boy, man, warrior? Which flaws or problems can I live with? Flans are typically crowded. The dolphin's nose or tail is often off flan. Should I get one with a lean and lanky Phalanthos or a more brutish Phalanthos who holds a club-like distaff? One with a cool secondary device like Silenos or a hippocamp? One with waves or without waves? Arrrgh! Too many decisions!

This one caught my attention because of its good centering, reasonably good metal and surfaces, and the dynamic rendering of both sides. Fortunately the bidding stayed reasonable . Clearly I'll have to eventually acquire more of them... at the very least a couple of the earlier types, and I really want one with Phalanthos holding a hippocamp, or otherwise having a hippocamp somewhere on the reverse. Not sure why. I just like hippocamps .

For a concise writeup of these coins, please revisit @Zumbly's marvelous 2017 Coin Imperator semifinals entry.

I don't have Vlasto's book/catalog but wonder if it is available online as a .pdf since it is relatively old. I searched but didn't find it. If any of you have a link, please post it.

I do have a reprint of the Côte collection catalog (Collection Claudius Côte, Monnaies de Tarente, Rodolfo Ratto, 1929, reprinted 1975) so in @Roman Collector fashion, here is that entry and example:



This catalog contains 611 coins, most of which are the dolphin rider types. The catalog is in French so it's difficult for me to read but it appears that there aren't repeats. That's a lot of variations! No wonder it is difficult to choose one... or difficult to buy only one .

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How many varieties of this coin can we show? Post your dolphin riders!

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Very nice! I love that you can clearly see the helmet on the reverse.

 

A spectacular coin, TIF - artistry, centering, condition. It has it all.

I have two of these, which happened to fit my budget. One of them has a paperwork trail from a 1950s fraternity. Here is a boy and a warrior.



Calabria, Tarentum
AR Nomos
Hippodanos Magistrate
(c. 280-272 B.C.)
Naked youth on horseback right, crowning self; ΣΩ to left, ZAΛO & Ionic capital below / Phalanthos riding dolphin left, holding distaff & aphlaston; TAΡAΣ below;
ANO to right. Vlasto 803–7.
(6.41 grams / 20 mm)




Calabria, Tarentum AR Nomos
ΛYKΩN Magistrate
(c. 280-272 B.C.)
Helmeted, nude warrior on horse right, spearing, crowned by Nike flying left, ΣI behind, ΛYKΩN under horse / Taras astride dolphin left, holding kantharos and trident, GU in right field.
Vlasto 730; SNG ANS 1096.
(6.18 grams / 19 mm)

Provenance: Presented as gift to (Army) Chaplain Luther W. Evans for naming Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity magazine The Tidewater-Blue Ridge Teke in 1958 (see letter from Harry Donnelly and Sept. 1958 article in The Tidewater-Blue Ridge Teke, page 3)

 

I remember when you posted this coin! What a fantastic pedigree story!

 

Wow! @TIF , that coin is absolutely STUNNING!

 

Lovely coin and excellent write-up @TIF.

 

Fantastic example! Phalanthos looks buff, and I love the hair detail. Soooo hard to get both the tip of the dolphin's snout as well as the tail on these. The obverse is wonderful as well, the horse and dismounting rider look positively kinetic.

This pretty much sums up my predilection for the series.

And this sums up how I approached the 'problem' ...



CALABRIA, Tarentum
AR Didrachm. 7.50g, 20.2mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 325-281 BC. Fischer-Bossert 870c (this coin); Vlasto 607; SNG Copenhagen 849; SNG France 1800 (same obverse die). O: Nude rider on horse galloping to right, stabbing with spear held in his right hand and holding two other spears and shield with his left; below, ΣΑ. R: TAPAΣ, Phalanthos riding dolphin to left, holding kantharos in his right hand and trident in his left; below, little dolphin leaping left; K in left field.
Ex Schweizerischer Bankverein 29 (28 January 1992), lot 12


CALABRIA, Tarentum
AR Didrachm. 7.97g, 21.4mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 400-390 BC. Fischer-Bossert Group 26, 361a (V164/R283) = Vlasto 339 (this coin, illustrated in both); HN Italy 850. O: Naked ephebos on horse galloping right; small Λ below. R: Phalanthos, holding torch, riding dolphin left; TAPAΣ below.
Ex William N. Rudman Collection (Triton V, 15 January 2002), lot 1043; ex CNG Auction 53 (15 March 2000), lot 31; ex Michel Pandely Vlasto Collection, 339


CALABRIA, Tarentum
AR Didrachm. 7.64g, 21.7mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 380-340 BC. Vlasto 445 (same obv die). O: Nude helmeted warrior on horseback to left, holding reins in right hand, and shield and spear in left; Δ below horse. R: Taras seated astride dolphin to left, holding trident over shoulder; K and waves below, TAPAΣ to right.
As noted in Vlasto: "the obv. die must have struck the rev. die without blank and thus got damaged."


CALABRIA, Tarentum
AR Didrachm. 7.74g, 22mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 280 BC. Vlasto 700; HN Italy 968. O: Helmeted naked warrior with shield jumping off horse galloping left; EY behind, NIKΩTTAΣ below. R: TAPAΣ, Phalanthus of Tarentum, holding trident and short spear, riding dolphin right; below, hippocamp right, ΣOP to left.
Ex Giessener Münzhandlung 81 (1997), lot 67


CALABRIA, Tarentum
AR Didrachm. 7.75g, 22.3mm. CALABRIA, Tarentum, circa 332-281 BC. Fischer-Bossert Group 80, 1131 (V417/R873); Vlasto 587; HN Italy 934. O: Warrior, holding shield and two spears, preparing to cast a third, on horseback right; ΣA below. R: TAPAΣ, Phalanthos, holding distaff, riding dolphin left; pellet to left; below, prow left.
Ex Estate of Thomas Bentley Cederlind; ex Numismatica Ars Classica 84 (20 May 2015), lot 1358

 

Excellent post, and very nice coin. Congrats on the pick up.

 

The entry reads "Same horse-rider galloping left, holding a round shield and lance; below, letter |-. -- Rx. ΤΑΡΑΣ. Taras on a dolphin l., holding a Corinthian helmet in the right hand and placing the left hand on the dolphin; below, letter | and waves. Var. of Ev. III, L 3. Extremely rare. Didrachm. Very fine."

 

Very nice selection, I especially like the detail of Phalanthos holding up the helmet and the dismounting warrior is indeed rendered in a very "kinetic" or dynamic manner. Was this the "favorite of the year" coin you alluded to?

 

No, the "favorite of the year" is still waiting for me to do a worthy writeup . This Tarentum is certainly going to be high on the year-end list though!

 

Lol, I always thought that the Dolphin Rider (Phalanthros/Taras) was holding the head (inside helmet) of a defeated foe, or something like that, and not just his helmet. I'm not an ancients collector, but I do admire the nicer ones, like the ones posted here.

 

WoWiE! Amazing pick up @TIF! For many of the reasons you've mentioned I've yet to pick one of these beauties up. But I'll be mighty pleased if I get one near as stunning as yours. Coingrats!

 

What a beautiful coin @TIF.....I don't own any Dolphin riders but can really appreciate the detail on your new purchase especially the reverse...Congrats!

 

Good choice, TIF , all is on the flan, congrats.

Heres mine, got to had one with an owl:

 

Not just a horse...a stallion!

Ah, now you understand the basic predicament we all have (well, mostly me! )

We can only hope TIF,...we can only hope...

Yup!

I saw a hippocamp in Africa one time...they were all by the fireside toasting these gigantic marshmallows & making smores. They didn't use tents though...

 

Absolutely fantastic TIF, I am green with envy, having just returned from holiday in that area, it's definitely a coin high on my want list.

 

I didn't remember either but have the book... yes, it's #45 on Berk's list. He calls the denomination a stater. Didrachm, nomos, stater... another good reason to just put the diameter and weight in every coin's attribution .

If I had traveled to any areas where ancient coins originated, I'd definitely want to buy some from those areas! I have not traveled much and have only been to Europe once. It was just a weekend trip to Italy. From that experience I learned that a) middle seat coach on a long flight is torture, and b) in small towns of Italy, nothing at all is open on the weekends, especially after hours. Bring your own food.