A new AR MSC, Bull riding a Dolphin (just like in the wild) & a Wise Centaur (?)/Today's wins at CNG

A bunch of the coins up for sale at CNG E auction 497 were being sold as from the "Wise Centaur" collection, including both of my wins.

(Here he is in the wild)


(Here he is 2,300 years later)

Wondering if anyone knows who the Wise Centaur is? If they wish anonymity but didn't mind sharing via PM a additional provenance is always appreciated.

On to the coins:


As my CT friends know, I'm always happy to pick up a new (to me) type of Macedonian shield and this ones especially cool. The swirl boss, MAKEDONAN ship prow, being silver are all part of why I am very pleased to give this little fella a new home:

MACEDON, The Macedonians. Circa 224-197 BC. AR Tetrobol (15mm, 1.76 g). Amphipolis mint. Series II, circa 221-197 BC. Macedonian shield / Stern right; star above. ACULA Issue 10, 28 (O8/R25); HGC 3, 325. Toned, some find patina, cleaning scratches on reverse. VF.
From the Wise Centaur Collection.

Now, the prettier, older and more popular coin that I also won from smart Sagittarius was this Byzantion coin with a fun little quirk compared to most, it doesn't just have the KY above the Bull. Did the letters just get garbled, did the die break, is it the flying spaghetti monster!?!?!

(Real footage, folks)

As well, what does the Bull riding Dolphin represent, or rather, what did it represent to the people that it was minted for?

THRACE, Byzantion. Circa 387/6-340 BC. AR Half Siglos (13.5mm, 2.32 g). Bull standing left on dolphin left / Quadripartite incuse square of mill-sail pattern. Schönert-Geiss, Byzantion 256–590; HGC 3, 1390. Toned, porous, a couple of scrapes, small test cut on edge. VF.
From the Wise Centaur Collection.

Please share any wins you had from today's CNG auction, coins from the Wise Centaur, similar types, ideas on what it all means, or observations others might not be aware of

 

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Congrats on your pickup today, @Ryro! Nice coins.

I also noticed CNG's "Wise Centaur Collection" today. I thought there are collectors releasing their extra Centaur pieces, as the first coins in the auction all have centaur in their reverses.

No luck for me today though...

 

I think the bull represents Acheloös , a rivergod.
others: Poseidon riding a dolphin , Eagle (Zeus ?) riding a dolphin

 

My win today didn't come from the Wise Centaur collection, but I'm super happy to win it.

KINGS of MACEDON. Ptolemy Keraunos. 281-279 BC. AR Tetradrachm. In the name and types of Alexander III. Amphipolis mint. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin headdress / Zeus Aëtophoros seated left; monograms in left field and below throne. Price 537; Mathisen, Administrative –. In NGC encapsulation 4934453-015, graded Ch F.

Of course, I read Mathisen and he doesn't really attribute this coin to Ptolemy Keraunos. In fact, he attributes no coin to him. The trumpet series tets, which came after this series, he states belong to either Keraunos or to Antigonos II Gonatas, and since they operated in the same geographic area and had equal reasons to use a trumpet, it's not possible to say.

The coins in this series are attributed to the period between when Keraunos knocked of Seleukos and when he made his way up to Amphipolis. During that time, a number of pretenders attempted to take the throne.

However, Price 537 occurs late in that series, so maybe Ptolemy Keraunos had reached Amphipolis by then? We really can't know. What is known is that there aren't a lot of Price 537 copies out there (seems like ~20) and maybe someone will come along some day and either affirm that this is Ptolemy Keraunos, or attribute it to an even rarer pretender.

In the meantime, I'm going to happily label it as "Ptolemy Keraunos." Tets attributed to him don't come up often, so I'm super-excited to receive it.

The coin should be happy too. I'm going to free it from its claustrophobic box.

 

Interesting Thanks for your insight Andres and your beautiful coins
I've been looking for just the right Poseidon on a dolphin for a while now as many of them are from when Pyrrhus was in control
I did finally pony up and get the Ying yang twins:

 

Wow! That bull riding the dolphin is pretty cool (though tiring for the dolphin)!

I guess dolphins were a major mode of transportation back then... Even eagles used them.

 

Nah, the one from Tarentum is actually Taras, or sometimes the figure is referred to as Phalanthos

 

I didn't bid in this auction. But I do remember the Macedonian coin.
When I saw it in the catalog, for some reason somewhere in the back of my mind the letters R....Y....R....O...began to form. I wonder why?

Congrats!

 

Congrats @Ryro ! It's nice to add another coin in a certain area of interest (your case, Macedonian shields)
I can only add my humble shield, probably the only one as I only wanted to mark this type as checked. A coin you will recognize



Philip III Arrhidaios (as discussed, but attributed by the house as Antigonos II Gonatas)
From the Tareq Hani collection
Bronze Æ
14 mm, 4,54 g
(323-317 BC). Ae 1/2 Unit.
Uncertain mint in western Asia Minor.
Macedonian shield; on boss, head of Herakles facing slightly right.
Helmet. Controls: kerykeion to right, monogram to left.
Price 2803.