Ever since @TIF showed her example of this stunning type from Alexandria and coined the term 'snake cowboy' I've wanted one. https://www.cointalk.com/threads/so-these-exist-snake-cowboys.314032/ A long sought after personal grail/white whale coin of mine. The recent Naville 67 auction not only had an example ... it's also a Dattari-Savio plate coin! I just had to have it! Domitian Æ Diobol, 6.38g Alexandria mint, 90-91 AD Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹΑΡ ΔΟΜΙΤ ϹƐΒ ΓƐΡΜ; Head of Domitian, laureate, r. Rev: LΙ; Serpent on back of horse, r. RPC 2584. Emmett 277.10. Dattari-Savio 6801 (this coin). Ex Naville 67, 1 August 2021, lot 188. The Alexandrian mint under Domitian around regnal year 10 or 11 experienced a 'dramatic improvement in style' and the 'adoption of a wide range of new types' (Milne). One of those new types features an Agathadaemon serpent (the 'Good Spirit' of grain fields and vineyards) riding a horse. The 'Good Spirit' was venerated in both Greek and Roman religions, depicted as a serpent on Roman shrines and lararia and honoured as an omen of good luck among the Greeks. The Agathadaemon serpent's most developed form flourished in Roman Egypt where it became an exalted deity, far beyond the status of a mere household god. Emmett says of this unusual type 'The horse represents the changing of the seasons, and the serpent represents rebirth and regeneration of the crops upon which Egyptian life and prosperity depended.' Domitian's regnal year 10/11 was the first appearance of this incredible reverse - truly one of the more memorable types from the Roman world! The Dattari pencil rubbings have a lot to be desired. It's almost imperative to have the coins in hand! An interesting back story about Giovanni Dattari and his impressive collection. https://www.academia.edu/37026327/Giovanni_Dattari_and_His_Fabled_Collection_of_Alexandrian_Coins Feel free to share your numismatic snakes, horses, or plate coins.
Nice "snake cowboy" plate coin, David! I recently picked up a snake biga from our CT friend, @PeteB. I like it a lot. Here is his nice coin photo and description. Elagabalus. 218-222 AD. Nicopolis, Moesia Inferior. Æ (28mm, 14.20 gm, 12h). Novius Rufus, legatus consularis. Obv: Laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right. Rev: Triptolemos in chariot drawn right by two winged serpents. H&J 8.26.23.3; AMNG I 1906; Varbanov 3911.
All right, @David Atherton, a snake cowboy!!! What a great acquisition for your collection! How about someone riding a snake?! Caracalla, AD 198-217. Roman Provincial tetrassarion, 14.78 g, 29.6 mm, 1 h. Thrace, Pautalia, c. AD 198-205. Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNEINOC, beardless, laureate head of Caracalla, right. Rev: OYΛΠIAC ΠAV | TAΛIAC. Asklepios cradling serpent-entwined staff, reclining left, head right, on winged, coiled, and bearded Glykon flying right. Refs: BMC 3.145,34; Ruzicka 612; Varbanov II 5008; Moushmov 4235, Mionnet Suppl. 2, p. 384, 1084; Vaillant n. Gr. 1074.
Nerva, A.D. 96-98 Type: Billon Tetradrachm, 25mm, 12.7 grams, mint of Alexandria year 96-97 A.D. Obverse: Bust of Nerva facing right, KAIS SEB AVT NEPOVAS Reverse: Agathodaemon serpent coiled with head right, holding caduceus and grain ear within coils, wearing the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt. In exergue, LA. Reference: Milne 542, Dattari 638 (rare)
Excellent score and with as good of a provenance as one could ask for! My snake cowboy is riding a half horse (at least he chose the front half to ride on):
Nice AE, @David Atherton … Sssssnake RR Man Acilius Glabrio 49 BCE Salus Valetudo snake Craw 442-1a Sear 412 RI Hadrian CE 117-138 AR Denarius Salus stdg feeding Snake Makedon Alexander III the Great AE17 5.6g 325-310 Alex-Herakles lion skin - B A bow case club Coiled SNAKE Price 385 RImp Octavian AR Quinarius 29-28 BCE Asia Recepta Victory Cista Snakes S 1568 RR Rubrius Dosssenus AR Quinarius 87 BC Neptune Victory alter snake Aesculapius S261 Cr 348-4
My only Agathodaemon: Hadrian, Billon Tetradrachm, Year 3 (118/119 AD), Alexandria, Egypt Mint. Obv. Laureate head right, drapery on left shoulder, AYT KAIC TPAIANOC -AΔΡΙΑNOC ϹƐΒ (clockwise from 5:00) / Rev. Serpent Agathodaemon standing erect right, crowned with pschent/skhent [the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt] , tongue protruding, with coils enfolding caduceus to left and stalks of corn to right; L - Γ (Year 3) across fields. RPC [Roman Provincial Coinage] Vol. III 5149 (2015); RPC III Online at https://rpc.ashmus.ox.ac.uk/coins/3/5149; Emmett 803.3; BMC 16 Alexandria 665 (at p. 79) (1892) [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 2]; K&G 32.68 (at p. 118); Dattari (Savio) 1541; Milne 918 [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 13]; Geissen 764 [ill. as RPC Vol. III 5149, specimen 18]. 24 mm., 13.81 g., 12 h. Purchased from http://www.cgb.fr July 2021, ex. Collection of Aymé Cornu (1926-2020) (Engineer. - Head of the mass spectrometry laboratory at the Center for Nuclear Studies in Grenoble, France; see https://data.bnf.fr/fr/12598408/aime_cornu/).* *The serpent Agathodaemon or Agathos Daimon -- translated variously as good spirit, noble spirit, or good genius -- was sacred to Serapis, and was worshipped in every Egyptian town. “On the coins he is always represented erect, and usually wearing the skhent, in the midst of corn and poppies, generally with a caduceus, also rising from the ground.” BMC 16 Alexandria, p. lxxxvi. The Numiswiki definition of Agathodaemon, at https://www.forumancientcoins.com/numiswiki/view.asp?key=Agathodaemon, states as follows: “Agathodaemon (Greek: ‘good spirit’) was a god of the vineyards and grainfields and of good luck, health and wisdom. It was customary to drink or pour out a glass of unmixed wine to honor him in every meal. He was the spouse or companion of Tyche Agathe (later Agatha). He was represented in art as a serpent or as a young man bearing a cornucopia and a bowl in one hand, and a poppy and an ear of corn [U.S.: grain] in the other. The agathodaemon was later adapted into a general daemon of good luck, particularly of the abundance of a family 's good food and drink.” It should be noted that there is a wide variety of coin types showing the Agathodaemon, under Hadrian and other emperors (and empresses) from Nero to Gallienus. For example, the serpent Agathodaemon frequently appears on tetradrachms, diobols, and drachms, and is shown both with and without the caduceus and corn stalks -- and, sometimes, when they are present, with the corn stalks to the left and the caduceus to the right. The Agathodaemon is also sometimes shown with the head of Serapis, and sometimes appears with the Uraeus snake facing it. As we know, it occasionally appears riding a horse. There is also a variety, at least for Hadrian, with a star in the right field of the obverse. See the article entitled “The Agathos Daimon in Greco-Egyptian religion,” by João Pedro Feliciano, at https://www.academia.edu/27115429/The_Agathos_Daimon_in_Greco-Egyptian_religion . . . . [Remainder of footnote omitted] Asklepios and a serpent coiled around an Omphalos: Mysia, Pergamon (under Roman Republic from 133 BCE, Province of Asia), AE 19 mm., 133-27 BCE. Obv. Laureate head of Asklepios right / Rev. Bearded serpent coiled around oval Omphalos covered by net [agrenon],* AΣKΛHΠIOY downwards to right, ΣΩTHΡOΣ downwards to left [ = Asklepios Sothros or Soter, meaning “the Savior”]. BMC 15 Mysia 158 (p. 129) & PL. XXVII no. 4 [Wroth, Warwick, A Catalogue of the Greek Coins of the British Museum, Vol. 15, Mysia (London 1892)]; Sear, Greek Coins 3967 (p. 369) (ill.) [Sear, David, Greek Coins and their Values, Vol. 2: Asia & Africa (Seaby 1979)]; SNG Von Aulock I 1377 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Deutschland, Sammlung Hans Von Aulock, Vol. 1: Pontus, Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Mysia, Troas, Aiolis, Lesbos, Ionia (Berlin, 1957)]; SNG BnF 1803-1827 [Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, France, Cabinet des Médailles, Bibliothéque Nationale, Vol. 5, Mysia (Paris 2001)]. 19 mm., 9.91 g., 11 h. *See the definitions of Omphalos and agrenon at http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/glossary.html: Omphalos: The Omphalos was a sacred stone sited near the prophetic chamber of the oracle of Delphi. The word means "navel" in Greek, indicating its position in the centre of the Hellenic world. There were several copies, and some other stones are sometimes given this name, but the Delphi stone is the original and the one which is usually meant by the term. Apollo [father of Asklepios], the patron deity of the Delphic oracle, is often shown seated on the Omphalos. It was usually shown on coins as covered by a white wool netting, the agrenon, though this is worn to invisibility on many examples. Agrenon: A Greek word for the white wool netting which covered the Omphalos, and was also worn by soothsayers. It was related to the casting nets used by hunters. It was made of raw wool which had been carded, but not spun or died. Paintings and copies of the Omphalos showed it with this netting. It can be seen on the example to the right, criss-crossing between the body of a snake [illustration is of this coin type; see http://www.forumancientcoins.com/moonmoth/coins/pergamon_004.html]. Serpents associated with Salus: Roman Republic, Manius Acilius Glabrio, AR Denarius, 50 BCE (Harlan and BMCRR) or 49 BCE (Crawford), Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate head of Salus right, wearing necklace and earring, with hair collected behind in knot ornamented with jewels, SALVTIS upwards behind head / Rev. Valetudo* [Harlan says portrayal is of a statue of Valetudo] standing left, holding snake with right hand and resting left arm on column, MN•ACILIVS [downwards on right] III•VIR•VALETV [upwards on left] [MN and TV monogrammed]. RSC I Acilia 8, Crawford 442/1a, Sydenham 922, Sear RCV I 412 (ill.), Harlan, RRM II Ch. 30 at pp. 229-238, BMCRR Rome 3945. 17.5 mm., 3.98 g. * Valetudo was essentially another manifestation of Salus (portrayed on the obverse), the goddess of health and well-being -- a concept sometimes “extended to include not only physical health but also the general welfare of the Roman people, the army and the state.” John Melville Jones, Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins (London, 1990) at p. 276. This is the only Roman coin to depict a personification of Valetudo. See id. at p. 314. Crawford (Vol. I at p. 461) says that “perhaps” these types refer to the story that the first Greek doctor to come to Rome practiced on the gens Acilia’s street, and that “it is also possible” that “expectations of a Caesarian victory influenced the choice of types.” Harlan dismisses the “first Greek doctor” story (pointing out that the actual story in Pliny characterizes that doctor very negatively, giving no reason to commemorate him) (see RRM II at p. 231), and vigorously argues that the coin was actually pro-Pompey, not pro-Caesar. He asserts out that Acilius was Pompey’s stepson for a brief period of time, born in Pompey’s house (stating that he was the son of Aemilia, Pompey’s second wife, who apparently divorced Acilius’s father to marry Pompey while she was pregnant with Acilius, although she died in childbirth and Pompey soon remarried to Mucia Tertia). Harlan suggests that the specific inspiration for the depictions on this coin was Pompey’s grave illness around the time the coin was issued, and that the coin equated the health of Pompey with the health of the Republic: “If the coin is dated to 50, by the end of the year, anyone who saw Salus and Valetudo on the coinage could only call to mind the national concern, and then the universal relief and thanksgiving over Pompey’s return to health. Whatever the intended meaning, certainly by the end of the year 50 the coin could easily be seen as a piece of Pompeian propaganda proclaiming that they are the ones protecting the state and Caesar is the threat to the safety of the Republic.” (RRM II at pp. 232-233.) Harlan also estimates, based on the number of known different obverse and reverse dies, that nearly 11 million of these denarii were minted (the most during this time-period), and suggests that they were intended to be used to pay the 130,000 troops that the Senate authorized Pompey to raise in preparation for the coming conflict. (Id. p. 234.) Maximinus I Thrax, AE Sestertius, 236-238 AD, Rome Mint. Obv. Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right, MAXIMINVS PIVS AVG GERM / Rev. Salus seated left, holding patera with outstretched right hand and using it to feed a serpent rising from an altar; resting left arm on side of chair, SALVS AVGVSTI; S C in exergue. RIC IV 85, BMCRE 175-176, Cohen 92, Sear RCV III 8338 (ill.). 31 mm., 17.58 g., 12 h. More snakes/serpents, without full descriptions: Thrace, Apollonia Pontika [now Sozopol, Bulgaria], AR Drachm, ca. 450-500 BCE: Lydia, Tralleis/Tralles, AR Cistophoric Tetradrachm, 78/77 BCE: Roman Republic, L. Procilius L.f., AR Denarius, 80 BCE: Roman Republic, L. Procilius L.f., AR Serrate Denarius, 80 BCE Roman Republic, C. Memmius C.f., AR Denarius, 56 BCE: Roman Republic, L. Plautius Plancus, AR Denarius, 47 BCE (obverse only):
Great score, David! I was in the same boat as you in wanting one of these ever since seeing TIF's unforgettable example and thread on it. I finally won one - also from a Naville auction - about two months ago. LUCIUS VERUS AE Diobol. 7.61g, 22.6mm. EGYPT, Alexandria, RY 3 (AD 162/3). RIC Online temp 15157; Dattari 3806. O: Radiate bust right, draped on left shoulder. R: Serpent (Agathodaemon) on horse galloping right; LΓ below.
Coingrats on the addition, David! I love these types and if I could, I'd buy every single example I see. Guess I forgot to bid in the last Naville auction -- but I'm glad you got it . @zumbly-- great detail on that diobol!
Wow ! The "SCC"* is now a very chic and select club. Being admited as a member is a must !! * : The Snake Cow-boy Club Q
