Ancients: Pegasus, the Winged Horse of the Gods

Despite the Kennedy gold fiasco, I had a very productive and successful ANA show, adding several new coins and having a great time meeting with friends and dealers. I'll be writing up my new purchases soon but in the meantime, here is a coin which has been in my collection for a while but never posted with historical detail.

Post your pegasi!



Among the most recognizable of ancient coins are those of Corinth and its colonies. They feature Pegasus, the mythological winged horse which was born from Poseidon and Medusa.

The legendary founder of Corinth, Bellerophon, was given a golden bridle from the goddess Athena that allowed him to tame Pegasus. He then rode Pegasus which helped him defeat the monstrous Chimera, making him the greatest hero before the days of Hercules.

Thinking this battle made him worthy to live among the gods, Bellerophon tried to use Pegasus to fly to Mt. Olympus, but Zeus wouldn’t allow it, stopping the horse and causing it to throw Bellerophon off. Pegasus then remained at Mt. Olympus where he was used to carry Zeus’ thunderbolts and continued to play a role in other Greek stories.

Paying homage to their mythological founder, the staters of Corinth depict Pegasus on the obverse and a helmeted Athena on the reverse.

The Corinthians founded many colonies and these cities copied the coinage of their mother city, differentiated with symbols and inscriptions to denote their origin. Because of the popularity of the coinage, even some cities outside of Corinthian control copied the design in hopes of improving their trade.

This particular coin was minted in the colony of Argos Amphilochicum, near the modern town of Loutron on the Ambracian Gulf. It was founded by the mythological figure Amphilochus, a famous seer, who fought against Thebes in the Trojan War. Upon returning to Argos, he was dissatisfied with the state of the city, and he left for Acarnania where he founded Amphilochian Argos.

The relationship between Argos Amphilochicum and their Corinthian control was not without conflict. The Ambraciots colonized the area and Hellenized the Amphilochians, adopting them into more formalized Greek culture. However, they later drove out the native inhabitants who then retaliated by siding with the Acarnanians and Athenians, successfully reclaiming their land.

Akarnania, Argos Amphilochikon AR Stater. Circa 340-300 BC. Pegasos flying left, A below / Head of Athena left wearing Corinthian helmet; AMFI above, ABP and spear behind. BMC 15; Pegasi 33; Imhoof-Blumer 31. 8.42g, 22mm, 12h. Good Extremely Fine. Pleasing old tone. Ex M&M Auction 23, 18 October 2007, lot 138; Ex Negrini Auction 3, 1996, lot 13.

 

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How long did you have to wait in line?

 

My first "major" ancient purchase and one of my favorite coins:


CORINTHIA, Corinth.
345-307 BC
AR stater, 8.65 gm
Obv Pegasus flying left, qoppa below
Rev: helmeted head of Athena left wearing necklace; head of Silenus behind
Ref: Ravel 1046. Calciati 408. Scarce variety.
from Heritage Auctions, June 2013
This scarce variety was chosen to represent Corinth staters, #23 in Harlan J. Berk's book, "100 Greatest Ancient Coins".
This coin is in Wildwinds as the example of the type.

The Kennedy gold release really did wreak havoc on the early part of the show. I was happy when they halted sales.

Other than that it was fabulous-- perfect for my first coin show experience! Thanks for the intros, AJ

One of my many favorite show moments occurred today when David Michaels (Heritage's director of ancient coins) walked over to admire my jacket-- which I made from fabric printed with a collage of most of my coins. I pointed out the ones I'd purchased from Heritage, including this Corinth stater. He remembered the coin.

 

One day I will have this type. Beautiful coin AJ. The details of the wing on Pegasus I think steals the show.

I hope you enjoyed the show. I would love to attend one day but there are too many other places calling my name first. Maybe when I retire in a few decades!

 

A classic... One of my favorite coin...

Corinthia, Corinth AR Stater
(350-300 BC)
Obv.: Pegasos flying left.
Rev.: Head of Athena wearing wreathed Corinthian helmet; A-P below, eagle behind.
Ravel 1008c.

 

Stunning coin. I like the portrait of Athena more then the pegasus, go figure.

My only sad pegasus.


Q TITIUS (90 B.C.)
AR Denarius
O: Head of Bacchus or Liber right, wreathed with ivy.
R: Pegasus right, Q•TITI on tablet below.
Rome
4g
19mm
Syd. 692, Crawford 341/2

 

Very nice OP coin as usual. Would love to own a coin like that for real. Interesting history write-up as well.

 

Great Pegasus coins everyone.

Here is a Pegasus on Athena's double crested helmet:




ATTICA, Athens
AR Tetradrachm
130 – 29 B.C.

16.77 gms, 31 mm
Obv: Head of Athena facing right with
double-crested Attic helmet
adorned with Pegasos.
Rev: Owl standing right on fallen am-
phora with head facing, elephant
symbol to right, all within olive
wreath. The letter E on amphora
ME in exergue. Upper field
around owl A-OE and ANT-OXOΣ.
Left field continues with
KAPA/IXOΣ/ΣKY/MNO/Σ
[magistrates Antiochos, Karaichos
and Skymnos].
Grade: AU with good centering
and strike confirmed by NGC
opinion. Some porosity at obverse
otherwise as struck with good
tone & luster.
Other: Purchased in an NGC slab from Pegasi Numismatics September 2013. Thompson 397h

 

Fantastic coin AJ. Some day, when I grow up, I want to be a coin collector like you.

 

Smooth new Pegasus, AJ ... congrats!

Wow, those are some outstanding coins, gang (wow)

Sadly, my poor ol' example kinda sucks in comparison ... *sigh*

Acarnania (Anactorion), Corinthian Stater
Anactorium Mint
300-250 BC
Diameter: 22.3 mm
Weight: 8.53 grams
Obverse: Pegasus with pointed wing flying left (obverse is weakly struck)
Reverse: head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet over leather cap, magistrate's names KAE and Ar above and below, mint mark AN monogram and control-symbol filleted bucranium behind
Reference: BMC (Corinth and Colonies) p. 119, 49-53; Sear (Greek Coins & Their Values I)
Other: Info is directly from David Sear's "Certificate of Authenticity"

 

That Pegasos is beautiful and looks like it was struck in wonderfully high relief. Great write up as usual. One could spend a lifetime collecting coins of Corinth (with all the varieties of symbols, pegasos types, colonies, denominations and other related designs)

I have one from Leukas...

AKARNANIA, Leukas
AR Stater
8.3g, 20mm
Circa 320 - 280 BC
Pegasi 132 (same rev. die); BCD Akarnania 269 var. (? behind head).
O: Pegasos flying left, A below.
R: Head of Athena left, wearing Corinthian helmet; mast with yard-arm behind.
Ex Demetrios Armounta Collection


And this one's from Corinth, with a slightly rude symbol...

CORINTHIA, Corinth
AR Stater
8.37g, 22mm
Circa 400 - 375 BC
Pegasi 155; Ravel 599
O: Pegasos flying left, Q below.
R: Helmeted head of Athena right; EYT (retrograde) before, 'pudenda virilia' behind.
Ex John Hayes Collection
Ex Veilinghuis Eeckhout bvba Auction 7 (12 November 2011) Lot 11

 

Pegasus on the Greek coin of the XXth century.

 

I know everyone likes the big staters but Corinth issued a full range of interesting coins.
First is a trihemiobol of the early to mid 5th century reaturing a gorgonion reverse. This one has a textbook example of reticulation and weighs .5g.


Next is a drachm of the mid 5th century still showing the earlier curled wing Pegasus but with Aphrodite on the reverse. Also reticulated, this one has textbook columnar crystals at the top of the obverse.

My 4th century stater may not be the highest grade but I have always loved the style on this coin. The minor type is Nike.

Finally is an AE13 with trident reverse. from the 4th century. How many of these would be the equal of a stater? These are common in this condition and rare really nice looking. That is not all that uncommon a situation. It is frequently more difficult to find great examples of the denominations that supported purchases in the marketplace than those that were preserved in amphorae for banking.


I lack the coin I would really like. Who has a stater with curled wing that was issued with my first two small silvers? Really nice ones are 5 digits. There are some curled wing staters of the 4th century but the ones I want will have the Athena in a rather deep incuse square as seen on my drachm. There are also archaic staters with incuse reverses but I don't recall seeing one in nice condition in my price bracket. This would do:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=182194

 

I absolutely love the charming little Nike on this coin!

 

Very nice. I would love to own one!

 

Very nice Stater OP!!!
Nice staters everyone! I do not have the type...yet.

 

Thanks! It is definitely worth attending coin shows, if for no other reason than to handle numerous coins. I make a point to look at coins outside of my zones of familiarity (like Greek bronze) and learned quite a lot just from seeing them in-hand.

The best part of coin shows is definitely the social aspect. Meeting with dealers face to face is a great way to build relationships and allows for an "ear to the ground" to hear the latest news/detail of upcoming auctions/etc.

The ANA show isn't as good as it used to be for ancients but CICF is still strong. Hopefully more international dealers will be in attendance next year, but it is an understandably expensive and time consuming trip to make.

 

Call me crazy, but I don't like the lines on the portrait. The Pegasus however, is unmatchable.

 

I think that A-Joe's example is absolutely awesome ... but I think that Batman is definitely bringin' the show-pony!! (great everything)

 

Someday I will. Probably when I hit the sweet spot in 3 years when my student loans are paid off and I don't have any immediate big purchases (hopefully). I just need to time a vacation trip to an American city conveniently when a coin show is happening.