While waiting for eight coins to arrive from abroad I got an itchy bidding finger. Dolphin, scallop shell, unusually good centering, good price... click! CALABRIA, Tarentum (Taras) 325-280 BCE AR litra, 11 mm, 0.56 gm Obv: cockle shell Rev: dolphin right, trident below* Ref: Vlasto 1530 Freed from its slab, NGC Choice VF 5/5-3/5; cert# 3601372-003 Seller's description says "trident below". It's too distorted to tell but it could be something else, perhaps a tripod. No big writeup for this one, but here's the location of Tarentum: Taking the easy route, here's a blurb about Tarentum from CNG's Archives. (@Ardatirion, did you write this one? If so, thanks!) According to tradition the Spartan colony of Taras (mod. Taranto), known as Tarentum by the Romans, was founded in 706 BC under the leadership of Phalanthos. The city derives its name from Taras, the son of Poseidon and a local nymph, Satyra. It adopted a democratic form of government circa 475 BC, and thereafter became the leading Greek city in southern Italy. Its success led to continual difficulties with its neighbor cities, and on four occasions Tarentum required expeditions from Greece to help overcome its aggressors. The last of these expeditions was led by the famed Epeirote, Pyrrhos. Following his withdrawal from the city, Tarentum was occupied by the Romans. Tarentum was among the early cities of Magna Graecia to strike coinage, employing the incuse type that was the hallmark of the first Italian coinages. Taras’ prosperity is exemplified by its vast coinage known today which was continuous from 510 BC until the end of the Second Punic War. The primary type recurring throughout the coinage is a figure astride a dolphin, which depicts either Taras or Phalanthos, who was said to have been saved from drowning by a dolphin. ... I still don't have the classic example of a Tarentum coin: Taras riding a dolphin. I look at them in every auction but haven't found the right one at the right price. Someday... Please post your coins of Tarentum, coins with shells, with dolphins, or whatever you feel fits.
I saw a coin like this on Ebay the other day. I marked it to watch, then promptly forgot about it. Nice coin. Love the scallop. Heck, love the coin.
Nice coin. I do not agree with the grading of the surface at 3/5 since a lot of the 'problem' is crystallization which I do not find nearly as offensive as porosity. This is a 4/5 to me. There are a lot of problems common to coins of Taras. Many nice staters are on small thick flans losing important parts of the dolphin or rider. There are many styles from slightly boring to rather fancy. Also interesting is the age range of the two humans. Some are boy jockeys from the races while others are soldiers. Of course mine were selected because they were cheap which means each has some problem that kept the big dogs away from it. Smaller denominations seem to be more prone to metal problems. I wonder if that has something to do with their being individual losses more often while big silver might be more likely to have been in a pot hoard. Of course one of mine is a fourree but you should see it easily despite the fact that its style is IMHO at least as good as most of these coins. This one was ex Numismatic Fine Arts in 1990 and perfectly centered meaning it loses a little of everything important on the reverse. It is not my favorite but it was expensive mostly because it was from NFA. 3rd century drachm has the city name as Tarentum rather than Taras as on earlier coins. 2 diobols - popular because of the Hercules reverses obol - Actually this one is not bad for these but the simple type and small size don't make them popular.
Nice dolphin coin. First time I saw a dolphin coin it was one from Sicily, ever since then I have been hunting for one.
shell/dolphin..simple, elegant, and sweet. that's a nice little coin TIF. i don't have any coins from magma graecia...you guessed it, on my list. that's a nice line up DS, i like the fouree the best!
Lovely little coin! I'm not a fan of the horse/dolphin rider coins, but would go for one of these. I particularly love the shell.
I think I figured out what the control mark is. The rare "hitchhiking dolphin" variant. Really? Good. One less bidder to compete with.
They're all yours! I think part of it is because I once tried to replicate his pose at a Trick Eye museum and nearly fell off the 6 foot high platform. I remember thinking "stupid Taras" and promptly transferred all blame for my foolhardiness. Also, I've always suspected dolphins may be a little evil - too smart by half (hitch hiking dolphin being further proof), always grinning, likely in league with the Illuminati. See, I have proper reasons for my numismatic preferences!
Ahhhh, I'm sorry, my favourite ... somehow I didn't notice your sweet thread until just now (my bad) ... Your new coin is fricken "sproooiinnnggg!!!" ... very cool Oh, I do happen to have a few dolphins that wanna get out and swim around (hey, maybe we can have a dolphin play-date?) Cheers
Wow, @stevex6, that's a fantastic pod of dolphins! @dougsmit-- very nice range of related coins. One of these days I want to get a fouree. I'd like to steal that zombie coin from @John Anthony but I think he's too attached to let it go without a fight.
=> thanks, coin-girlfriend (I love your new sweet addition) Oh, and fricken awesome coins, Doug (that's a great sampling of awesomeness!!)
