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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;TIF, post: 2031352, member: 56859&quot;]While waiting for eight coins to arrive from abroad I got an itchy bidding finger. </p><p><br /></p><p>Dolphin, scallop shell, unusually good centering, good price... click! </p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]369680[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>CALABRIA, Tarentum (Taras)</b></p><p>325-280 BCE</p><p>AR litra, 11 mm, 0.56 gm</p><p>Obv:&nbsp; cockle shell</p><p>Rev:&nbsp; dolphin right, trident below*</p><p>Ref:&nbsp; Vlasto 1530</p><p><i>Freed from its slab, NGC Choice VF 5/5-3/5; cert# 3601372-003</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p>Seller&#039;s description says &quot;trident below&quot;.&nbsp; It&#039;s too distorted to tell but it could be something else, perhaps a tripod.</p><p><br /></p><p>No big writeup for this one, but here&#039;s the location of Tarentum:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]369685[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p>Taking the easy route, here&#039;s a <a href="http://cngcoins.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=72" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://cngcoins.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=72" rel="nofollow">blurb about Tarentum from CNG&#039;s Archives</a>.&nbsp; ([USER=9204]@Ardatirion[/USER], did you write this one?&nbsp; If so, thanks!)</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">According to tradition the Spartan colony of Taras (mod. Taranto), known as Tarentum by the Romans, was founded in 706 BC under the leadership of Phalanthos. The city derives its name from Taras, the son of Poseidon and a local nymph, Satyra. It adopted a democratic form of government circa 475 BC, and thereafter became the leading Greek city in southern Italy. </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Its success led to continual difficulties with its neighbor cities, and on four occasions Tarentum required expeditions from Greece to help overcome its aggressors. The last of these expeditions was led by the famed Epeirote, Pyrrhos. Following his withdrawal from the city, Tarentum was occupied by the Romans. </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">Tarentum was among the early cities of Magna Graecia to strike coinage, employing the incuse type that was the hallmark of the first Italian coinages. Taras’ prosperity is exemplified by its vast coinage known today which was continuous from 510 BC until the end of the Second Punic War. </span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #0000ff">The primary type recurring throughout the coinage is a figure astride a dolphin, which depicts either Taras or Phalanthos, who was said to have been saved from drowning by a dolphin.</span></p><p><br /></p><p>...</p><p><br /></p><p>I still don&#039;t have the classic example of a Tarentum coin:&nbsp; Taras riding a dolphin.&nbsp; I look at them in every auction but haven&#039;t found the right one at the right price.&nbsp; Someday...</p><p><br /></p><p>Please post your coins of Tarentum, coins with shells, with dolphins, or whatever you feel fits.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i></i>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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