Greek Stater of Gortyna: Europa and Bull

Nice coins @gogili1977 ! I really like the big Viminicium bull and lion coins and yours is extra nice. As often as we see the lion biting the bull on the rear-end on coins I can’t help but feel like Moesia is really acting as referee on these coins.

Thanks for the kind words Al!

Thank you for the kind words John! I also think the design is really neat. In fact, something I didn’t know before I started researching this coin is that the mints in Crete were almost completely unique in showing full figures within natural scenes like this. This seems to have been an influence from earlier Minoan art. On the gold ring I showed in the OP it is amazing how much detail was shown on a surface no larger than a Greek tetradrachm. The Minoans certainly had all the technical skills needed to create coins... if only!

Thank you again John I always enjoy sharing some of my own photos from trips when it is relevant to a coin type or topic. You all are much more interested than my family and friends. By the third photo of ruins people will usually try to change the subject to what the food was like

 

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The Gortyna stater featured by @Curtisimo in this post, and his learned write-up on the type were very affecting. The coin is a link to a myth, in fact one of the founding myths of Europe, and as such struck me as extraordinarily mysterious and significant. Coins can be works of art, historical documents, and cultural artifacts all at the same time, but the depiction of Europa struck me as a tangible link to a prehistoric past, like a passage grave or a henge.

So, yesterday I was attending the Bay State coin show. In the case of a dealer who does not specialize in Ancients, tucked in the corner like an afterthought, I saw the following:

It is overstruck on a stater of Lyttos, so what I first took to be damage is mostly due to the undertype. I assume the Lyttos coin looked like this pic (cribbed from Pinterest):
It makes Europa seem as if she is in a frame. Long story short, I bought it. It is my first and only Ancient Greek coin. But all I can say is, Wow! And thank you, @Curtisimo, for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm.

 

Wow, missed this thread. Nice writeup and coins, @Curtisimo .

EUROPA ( rather worn...)


ROman Republic
Valerius Acisculus
AR Denarius
45 BCE
Apollo star
Europa bull
Sear 469 Craw 474-1

 

A superb writeup indeed! I've just shared this coin recently but this thread is far better than mine so I'll add my example here too:

 

This is an absolutely wonderful coin! I love that you can actually identify the under-type. It’s almost like getting two coins in one. Mine looks over-struck as well but there is nothing left that would allow me to identify the original coin type.

Lyttos was one of the oldest cities on Crete and was mentioned in the Homeric catalog of ships. In Greek mythology it is where Zues was born. Great addition. Thanks for sharing!

 

Thanks Brian! Nice Europa addition!

Thank you Joe. Your example is wonderful! Both sides are of high artistic quality but I must say that the bull on the reverse is one of the most distinctive I have seen. It’s also neat that “Gortyna” is spelled out so clearly on the reverse. Thank you for sharing it again.