Dolphin ride

Discussion in 'Ancient Coins' started by PMONNEY, May 31, 2017.

?

can a dolphin rescue a drowning human ?

  1. pure legend

    2 vote(s)
    8.7%
  2. true story

    21 vote(s)
    91.3%
  1. PMONNEY

    PMONNEY Flaminivs

    Since antiquity, dolphins have been considered as friends of humans, many men have been - - myth or reality - deemed rescued at sea by dolphins which became a legendary mammal with great intelligence. Here is Eros riding a dolphin, please show your dolphins ! DSCN3012.JPG can
     

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  3. Bing

    Bing Illegitimi non carborundum Supporter

    Love this design. Nice coin of which I do not have an example.
    SPAIN, ARSAOS SAGUNTUM.jpg
    SPAIN, ARSAOS/SAGUNTUM
    AE Sextan
    OBVERSE: Scallop shell
    REVERSE: Dolphin right, three pellets above, script below (resembling D/|\\IS)
    Struck at Saguntum, Mid 2d Century BC
    4.12g, 18mm
    Sear Greece I, 27
    Vitellius 2.jpg
    VITELLIUS
    AR Denarius
    OBVERSE: A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head right
    REVERSE: XV VIR SACR FAC Tripod, raven below, dolphin above
    Struck at Rome, Apr/Dec 69AD
    2.9g, 19mm
    RIC 109, BMC 39, S 2201
    THRACE, ISTROS.jpg
    THRACE, ISTROS
    AR Drachm
    OBVERSE: Facing male heads, the left inverted (Polydeuces Castor and Pollucs (AKA Dioskuri)
    REVERSE: Sea-eagle left, grasping dolphin with talons; ISTRIH above, Q between wing and tail, K beneath dolphin
    Struck at Istros, 400-300BC
    5.3g, 19mm
    AMNG 434
     
  4. Mikey Zee

    Mikey Zee Delenda Est Carthago

    Cool example!!

    I have a budget version I grabbed at FAC auctions so I'll post it from their archives:
    upload_2017-5-31_8-38-46.png . upload_2017-5-31_8-38-7.png

    Cordius Rufus Denarius. 46 BC. / RVFVS S C, diademed head of Venus right / M N CORDIVS, Cupid riding on dolphin right. / Syd 977, Cr463/3
     
  5. Pishpash

    Pishpash Well-Known Member

    I think mine reads Cupid.

    [​IMG] [​IMG]

    Diadumenian
    Region, City: Thrace, Deultum
    Coin: Bronze
    - Bare-headed, draped and cuirassed bust right
    Cupid - Cupid riding on dolphin right
    Mint: (217-218 AD)
    Wt./Size/Axis: 2.19g / 18mm / -
    References:
    • Deultum Moushmov 3568A
    Notes: Nov 17, 14 - Reference 20mm 5.71g this is lighter but only ref found. Unpublished in the major references
     
  6. Sallent

    Sallent Live long and prosper

    My one and only dolphin

    Istros Drachm.jpg
     
  7. David Atherton

    David Atherton Flavian Fanatic

    A very beautiful coin!

    I'm not sure the dolphin legends are true, but I'd like to believe they are.
     
    Deacon Ray likes this.
  8. Smojo

    Smojo dreamliner

    My only dolphin coin.
    My pic looks green. First pic is JA's 20170430_130925.jpg Moesia,Istros-sea eagle[SNG BM250].jpg
     
  9. randygeki

    randygeki Coin Collector

    Great coins!
     
    gregarious likes this.
  10. Keith Twitchell

    Keith Twitchell Active Member

    What a great thread this is! Ancient coins depicting dolphins are my number one collecting focus (I spend six years affiliated with a nonprofit organization doing interactive research IMG_0388.JPG with wild dolphins in the Atlantic ocean). I unfortunately have not yet done any photography of my coins, but snapped this image because it is perhaps the easiest dolphin coin I have to photo: Roman Republic, triens, 280 - 276 BC. Keep them coiming!
     
  11. dlhill132

    dlhill132 Member

    P MONNEY, nice new coin. I have two dolphins.

    ~Doug
    greek13.jpg greek15.jpg
     
  12. gsimonel

    gsimonel Well-Known Member

    What? No Olbia?
    [​IMG]
     
  13. Alegandron

    Alegandron "ΤΩΙ ΚΡΑΤΙΣΤΩΙ..." ΜΕΓΑΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ, June 323 BCE

    Great Coin @PMONNEY ! Great depiction of the Dolphin. Whether the tale is real or not, there seems to ALWAYS be some kernel of truth in any legend.

    upload_2017-6-2_9-34-10.png
    upload_2017-6-2_9-35-0.png
    upload_2017-6-2_9-35-33.png
    upload_2017-6-2_9-36-2.png
    upload_2017-6-2_9-36-42.png
    Syracuse Tyrant Gelon 458-478 BCE AR Tet 24mm 16.7g Slow Biga Victory Artemus-Arethusa 4 dolphins Sear-Greek 914
    Ex: @Ancientnoob The Eclectic
     
  14. PMONNEY

    PMONNEY Flaminivs

    dolfinrev.jpg
     
    Alegandron likes this.
  15. 4to2centBC

    4to2centBC Well-Known Member

    I saw this last night while browsing the wares at Royal Athena on-line (the brick and mortar gallery is a great place to visit in NYC). Thought it fits the theme.

    http://www.royalathena.com/PAGES/RomanCatalog/Bronze/Male/CNC25JE.html

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    ROMAN BRONZE NUDE BOY RIDING A DOLPHIN
    Its body arching; from a handle.
    2nd-3rd Century AD
    H. 5 1/2 in. (14 cm.)
    Ex Royal-Athena, 1984; reacquired for J.M.E. collection, New York, at Christie’s, New York, December 1993.
    CNC25JE
    SOLD not to me however.
     
  16. PMONNEY

    PMONNEY Flaminivs

    marvellous ! too bad out of reach physically and financially !!!
     
  17. PMONNEY

    PMONNEY Flaminivs

    Here are some more numismatic dolfins: apulia2.jpg
     

    Attached Files:

    Carl Wilmont, TIF, dlhill132 and 4 others like this.
  18. Carausius

    Carausius Brother, can you spare a sestertius?

    SICILY, Syracuse. 400-380 BC. AE Drachm (28mm, 29.32 g).

    Obv: Head of Athena left.

    Rev: Sea-star and two dolphins.

    Ex Robert and Julius Diez Collection; ex Gustav Philipsen Collection [J. Hirsch XV (28 May 1906), lot 1213].

    greek137obv.jpg greek137rev.jpg
     
    Carl Wilmont, TIF, dlhill132 and 7 others like this.
  19. 4to2centBC

    4to2centBC Well-Known Member

    I was warned away from these because of fakes and tooling, but the provenance on yours takes that factor out of the equation. Very nice example. Very nice detail preserved on the reverse.
     
    Carausius likes this.
  20. Roman Collector

    Roman Collector Well-Known Member

    This unpublished coin depicts Venus riding a dolphin.

    [​IMG]
    Faustina II, AD 147-175.
    Roman provincial Æ 5.84 g, 22.0 mm, 7 h.
    Bithynia-Pontus, Apamea.
    Obv: FAUST[INAC AUG], draped bust of Faustina II, right.
    Rev: UЄNU[S ... C]ICA dd, Venus seated right, head left, on dolphin swimming left, resting right arm on dolphin, uncertain object in left hand.
    Refs: RPC --; Waddington RG --; BMC --; Sear --; Mionnet Suppl 5 --; Lindgren --; Wiczay --.
    Notes: Apparently unpublished. Obverse die match to RPC IV.1 4729.

    While depictions of Aphrodite/Venus among dolphins are not uncommon in Greco-Roman art, I am hard-pressed after a rather thorough Google image search to find classical art depicting Venus actually riding a dolphin. In classical art, Eros/Cupid or one of the Nereids typically fill that role.

    Cupid on dolphin mosaic.jpg Cupids riding dolphins. Mosaic of Venus, in the house of Amphitrite, 4th century, BC. Bardo Museum in Tunisia. Image is in the public domain.

    Nereides2.jpg
    Nereid riding dolphin, Apulian red-figure pelike c. 5th century, BC, J. Paul Getty Museum.

    Nonetheless, the figure on the coin is Venus, for the reverse reads UЄNUS and is the companion piece (struck with the same obverse die) as this coin featuring Neptune:

    Apamea Faustina Waddington pl XXXIX.1.JPG
    Waddington, RG, pl. XXXIX.1.

    I had to go well into the Renaissance before I was able to find other depictions of Venus riding a dolphin.

    Albrecht Durer's "Venus auf einem Delphin" 1503, Albertina, Vienna:

    Venus on dolphin Durer.JPG

    Agostina Veneziano, "Venus Reclining on a Dolphin" (after Raphael), 1515-1520, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco:

    Venus on dolphin.jpg
     
  21. NewStyleKing

    NewStyleKing Beware of Greeks bearing wreaths

    Do you have to be nude to be rescued by a dolphin? Evidence presented seems to indicate so. So if drowning get your kit off.
     
    DonnaML, Carausius and TIF like this.
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