Attribution help needed: Greek bronze

Dear All,

I've been trying to attribute this little Greek or Roman provincial bronze coin (18 mm diameter, weight 4.31 g) for a couple of weeks now, and I think I have reached a dead end. Wildwinds, acsearch, and thumbing through Sear didn't yield any results, and the generally very knowledgeable, friendly, and helpful folks over at the German Numismatikforum didn't recognize the coin either. Thus, I thought I might ask here at CT whether anyone might have an idea:





Here's what I can recognize on the coin:

Obverse: veiled female portrait right, wearing wreath or diadem; characteristic bun below the veil at ca. 10 o'clock; mouth and part of the nose overstruck by countermark (bird?) at ca. 3–4 o'clock. Greek legend left – I think I can make out "Ι ... Λ ... ΔΙΡΩ...", but this is more a guess.

Reverse: standing and slightly humped bull or similar beast right (the animal's horns are much clearer in hand), line below. I can't make out any legends or other features, yet, they might simply be worn off.

I'd be truly grateful for any hints or even rough ideas. Bibliographic suggestions on where to look for further information would be very welcome and useful, too, since I fortunately have access to a well-stocked numismatic library. All best and thanks for your time,
Orielensis

 

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@Nicholas Molinari -- might this be a man-faced bull?

@Orielensis Nick is a MFB expert. Until he sees this and weighs in, you might want to browse all the examples he has on his website: https://manfacedbulls.wordpress.com/

 

Thanks a lot for the link, @TIF ! I am having a look at the MFB-blog right now. If I find something there, I'll update this thread.

 

I do my think it features a man-faced bull.

 

Euboian League? I'll have to dig out my BCD catalogs to check. The stance of the bull is a bit different and the veiled bust also. Interesting coin. Very cool. Im not so sure its a man-headed bull. That might be an extra lump of metal from striking.

 

Thanks, @Ken Dorney! Apart from the different stance of the bull and the missing bun you mentioned, my problem with Euboia is that none of the coins I can find online feature a legend on the obverse. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of the Lanz BCD Euboia catalogue in order to check. Probably I should try to get my hands on a copy via my library...

@Nicholas Molinari, what a great blog you have! Although I didn't find my coin, I greatly enjoyed browsing through it, and it also made me realize that another of my coins, which I had misattributed to Neapolis, is actually from Cales.

 

No Euboean League bronzes have a circular legend on the obverse. Suggest an Asia Minor mint.

 

I'm as puzzled as anyone, or more, Orielensis. You have received some clues from other members, so let me add a few - even if they are miles off ! I googled "Man-faced Bull on Coin", and there was some useful info. Might also be worth looking up man-Faced Bull in Greek Mythology books. You will find a few names. BTW, try googling "Man-Faced Bull on Coins", and that could be revealing. Something else I found online - the first letter looks like a Greek Temple - "XOTAMIKON. Sinews of Acheloios. A comprehensive Catalog of the Bronze Coinage of the Man-Faced Bull, with Essays on Origin and Identity. Written and edited by Nicholas J. Molinari and Nicola Sisci." Available from Archeopress (spelling?). I hope some of all this may be valid to your search.

 

See the second and fourth posts in this thread

 

Thanks, TIF, I'll just take your word for it !

 

I was at the museum today and typing fast (as I chased my daughter). I meant to say, “I do not think it is a man-faced bull”!

Pics from the coin room

Roman Egyptian for @TIF

 

wow! very kool! thanks for sharing!

 

Whoa, that's the nicest Noah's Ark I've seen (coin 6), and check out the Giza-style sphinx to the left (coin 4)! Some of those coins look off though. Are they replicas made for display or are they the real deal?

 

There was no indication that any were replicas, and usually the museum (MFA Boston) indicates such. They have an extensive collection of first rate material, but the gold and silver were all exceptionally shiny, indicating they might be cleaned regularly.

 

Thanks to everyone for the clues and ideas, and to @Nicholas Molinari for the gorgeous museum pictures. I will trust your expertise and assume (as a hypothesis) that it is not a man-faced bull. Yet, after looking at your blog, I definitely want to also spent some time with the book that @Bert Gedin so nicely recommended.

For now, the coin remains a mystery and my search continues... But since I mainly collect out of historical interest and for the attribution fun, this is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

It was a pleasure for some of us to get together a few ideas to assist with Orielensis' endeavours. And it would be so nice if he could update us, from time to time on any coin progress. And it was also quite special to have Nicholas M. sharing his bovine expertise with us, and we also look forward to further communications with him. - In Birmingham, U.K., my dwelling place, we have a major Square, called the Bullring. It has a huge bronze statue of a Bull - albeit not Man-Faced !!!

 

Today I got a ?children's booklet about Greek Life. Briefly, it tells of a legendary hero called Theseus, who slew a Minotaur, i.e. a hybrid monster, half bull, half man. He was kept by King Minos in a labyrinth at Knossos, Crete. This Minotaur was different to the bulls we have been discussing - his body was human, but his head was that of a bull. A distant relation of the Man-faced bulls ? Anyway, if any of you are holidaying in Crete, don't forget - beware of the Minotaurs !!!

 

Many early numismatist though the man-faced bull was the Minotaur. In my work, I argue that it is always a local embodiment of Acheloios.

 

Does anyone know of coin representation of the man bodied/bull headed monster Minotaur? MFB's are common in antiquity but I can't recall a BFM. There are marbles but not as many as there are stories where the term is unclear on which half was bull.

 

Not in my collection: https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=333826
I have a replica of the above coin, but no photo of the replica.