This is another one of Guy Clark's coins I bought from Tom Wood. I was surprised to find it in his box, and when the price was cut to $200, I figured I should pounce on it. I was fascinated by this type because of the particularly graphic scene on the obverse (though made less so by wear) was rather unusual for coins made for general circulation. Despite the wear, the obverse devices are quite easy to make out. I need to read up a little on my history and mythology in order to put this coin into its proper context. Thracian Islands, Thasos 463 - 411 BC AR Stater, 8.6g Obv: Satyr holding struggling nymph, who is raising her arm in protest. Rev: Incuse quadripartite punch SG 1746 Ex. Guy Clark
Contrary to popular perception, the God of War packs a small punch. Kind of underwhelming really. And to keep it numismatics related, when I got this coin it did amuse me that Roman celators strained to be so obsessive as to record even the smallest details of a human body. It must have taken a lot of work to make things that realistic. Very commendable considering the pressure they must have been under to crank out the dies faster.
The discussion of these coins are allowed for their numismatic history, however it is usually the 'ribald' comments and innuendos that costs members. Since there are some that like to always have the topping comment, it can infract members or threads, so please report such early if they occur and keep it on the numismatic side only. Thanks ,Jim.
Most of the resources on Ancient coins seem to feel brothel tokens were game pieces at the best as the various rulers would not allow any association of such to them. Some 'say' they were tokens to be used for taxing. The coin that typecoin posted is documented for the era. If anyone wants to do the same for their brothel token, you can pm me a sample post if you wish. I am sure most of you recognize there are multitudes of ones produced for the shock value and for shucking the tourists. They are even on Amazon in sets. The non-ancient coin collectors probably have seen sets of various '1800s' era of them for Arizona, Texas, etc.
Like it or not the price realized for a Thasos coin is often proportional to how anatomically correct it is. There are three major types and two sizes (stater and drachm) of these coins. The earlist type (like the OP) shows the nymph's hand as a two pronged claw. The second replaces the claw with a full hand. Last is the group where nymph placed her arm around the neck of the Satyr and appears to be more a willing participant running off with her boyfriend than a victim of abduction. It is hard to look at such cultural matters without imposing our modern concepts of what is being shown. Those not previously aware of the subject might enjoy the Wikipedia article on the Rape of the Sabine Women (a different event but related in concept). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rape_of_the_Sabine_Women Claw stater Hand stater Hug drachm
