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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;zumbly, post: 2167767, member: 57495&quot;]When I came across this unusual Roman Republic coin, I just had to have it because first, I thought it looked gorgeous, and second, I enjoy mythological types, and this one had two neat (and related) ones on either side. </p><p><br /></p><p>On the obverse is the winged head of a &#039;beautiful Medusa&#039; in profile, quite different from the fanged, monstrous face with protruding tongue and staring eyes that we&#039;re used to seeing on the Gorgoneion coins.&nbsp; The &#039;beautiful Medusa&#039; is a later, Classical Period invention, and one not commonly seen on ancient coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>The reverse shows Pegasos, one of the two children of Medusa, bearing on its back the hero Bellerophon, thus bringing together on a coin what would otherwise have been a difficult m̶o̶n̶s̶t̶e̶r̶ mother and child reunion because, as the myth goes, Pegasos sprang forth from the neck stump of a decapitated Medusa <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie100" alt=":wideyed:" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. </p><p><br /></p><p>Feel free to share your <b>Pegasos </b>and <b>Medusa</b> coins!</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]418103[/ATTACH]</p><p><b>ROMAN REPUBLIC</b></p><p><b>C. Cossutius C.f. Sabula</b></p><p>AR Denarius</p><p>3.86g, 18.6mm</p><p>Rome mint, 72 BC</p><p>Babelon Cossutia 1; Sydenham 790; Crawford 395/1.</p><p>O: SABVLA, Head of Medusa left. </p><p>R: Bellerophon on Pegasos right, brandishing spear in right hand; below, L COSSVTI C F; behind, IIII.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Notes</b>: <i>It&#039;s not known why these mythological types were chosen by C. Cossutius Sabula for his coins, but one is always free to speculate.&nbsp; Given the dating of this issue to the early years of the third and final Mithridatic War (73 - 63 BC), and Mithridates&#039;s own <a href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-the-headless-medusa-club.244466/#post-1887704" class="internalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.cointalk.com/threads/ancients-the-headless-medusa-club.244466/#post-1887704">large series of coins</a> portraying the Roman Republic as a decapitated Medusa, perhaps this was the young moneyer&#039;s tongue-in-cheek response embracing the idea of Roma as Medusa.&nbsp; Or, maybe the guy just liked old Greek legends <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. </i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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