Actaeon transforms into a stag – an exceptional mythological type

I've added a few dozen great new pieces to my collection recently, but I've been particularly excited to share this tessera with everyone. For anyone who's not familiar, Actaeon was a hunter who stumbled upon the goddess Artemis while she was bathing. In punishment, she turned him into a stag, and he was attacked and killed by his own hounds. I am absolutely in love with this piece – the perspective of the grotto, the pose of Artemis, and most of all the fact that the artist captured Actaeon right at the moment of transformation. This is definitely one of the flagship pieces for my collection.

IONIA, Ephesos. Alexander.
PB Tessera (17mm, 3.95 g, 4h)
Artemis kneeling right, bathing, within grotto surmounted by half-length figure of Aktaion, wearing antlers and raising arms
Hippocampus right, AΛЄ Ξ around
Gülbay & Kireç –; Gorny & Mosch 212 (5 March 2013), lot 3333 (same dies); Vossen 35 (this coin)

Ex Tom Vossen Collection, 35​

 

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Outstanding!!

 

I am extremely envious. Wow!! What a fantastic tessera!

 

That's cool!

 

That is fabulous.

 

Now that is a 'Tessara' I would LOVE to own!!! What a wonderful example!!

 

Fantastic, congrats!!

 

It makes me super happy you added a new and significant piece to your collection.

 

Seals are often misdescribed as tesserae, but here are a few of my seals:

 

Congrats on a fantastic score!

 

I do not own a tessara as of yet. I am becoming fascinated by them. Curious, @Ardatirion would you have any idea what a nice tessara like this was used for? I akin it as a ticket stub, or a gaming token of today.

 

That's been my take of their utility...I wonder if we're correct??

 

Wow, that's just spectacular!

 

IMO, that theory only still comes up because it has traction. It was the first suggestion offered back in the 18th century and its stuck around since. I think I can argue fairly persuasively that they are actually a small denomination, privately-produced currency. You can kind of think of them like US Civil War tokens. Issued out of necessity by merchants and merely tolerated by the government.

 

I swear half of what I write about tesserae is explaining how to distinguish them from seals. I don't think there's more than three dealers who can properly attribute them.

To anyone looking to pick up a few clay seals like these, BE CAREFUL. 100% of the examples on ebay – sold by an otherwise reputable dealer – are fake. I have a few and I'd love to get rid of them.

http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=2897

 

Ah! Makes a lot of sense! Thank you.

 

A very interesting piece. Do you have an idea when it was made?

 

1st-3rd centuries AD is the best I can say for sure. I haven't found a way to date this 'Ephesian' series yet, but we can figure some out by analogy from elsewhere in the empire.

The earliest dateable tesserae, outside of scattered non-monetary issues, bear the names and portraits of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and originate in Rome. In Egypt, we have a number of issues giving the date in regnal years, which are of course totally worthless, as they never bear the names or portraits of rulers! But there are a few examples that bear dates high enough that only Augustus, Commodus, or Caracalla could have born them, so we have a date of the late 2nd-early 3rd century in Egypt. And finally, in Athens, we have a number of specimens found in from the Agora, sealed after the city was sacked by the Goths in 267, providing a terminus ante quem for that series.

 

I have no seals or tesserae. I bet this is how it was done though.

 

Sweet!! => wow Ardy, that's a very cool lead-addition (congrats)

hey, ya gotta know that I'm totally jealous that you scored an awesome stag-example, right?



Ummm, is it okay to post my one and only Tesserae example? (again)




... man, ya gotta love the gryphons, eh?