I am excited about a new addition to my collection. I've been studying it all afternoon in light of information in the best source about such coins: Mark Staal's The Three Graces and Their Numismatic Mythology.[1] Many of his coins can be viewed at his website. Though often described as "The Three Graces" in auction catalogs, the deities featured on the reverse of this coin are better described as the more generic term, "Three Nymphs," because the term "Three Graces" refers to a specific statuary group, depicted in the same way on coinage throughout the Roman provincial series. Staal (p. 49) explains: "Among all the known Three Graces coin types there are several distinctive features that may provide some guidance on distinguishing them from their more generic cousins, The Three Nymphs. All of the known Three Graces coin types depict the center Grace from the reverse with arms extended around the shoulders of her companions who are both depicted as facing frontward. The coins illustrated here do not conform to this format. In all of these cases, the Graces are clothed (diverting from the traditional form) and all are imaged facing frontward with the center Grace holding the hands of the other two at her waist (not extending them around the shoulders)." Here is the coin from my collection: Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman provincial Æ triassarion, 24 mm, 7.77 g. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211. Obv: IOVΛIA ΔO-MNA CEB, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: MAPKIANOΠOΛITΩN, three nymphs standing facing, wearing tunics over long, lightly billowing skirts and clasping hands, the two outer nymphs with heads turned inwards and each holding a jug in her free hand. Refs: Varbanov 892 var (obv. legend); Staal 89.15 (plate 3, fig. 15, p. 157); BMC --; Moushmov --; SGI --; AMNG I (Pick) --; Lindgren --; Winsemann -- Note: Obverse and reverse die match to Staal plate coin (Gorny & Mosch Auction 108, lot 1421, April 3, 2001). Compare this to another coin produced by the SAME OBVERSE DIE but depicting the Three Graces: Julia Domna, AD 193-217. Roman provincial Æ triassarion, 23.3 mm 8.55 g. Moesia Inferior, Marcianopolis, AD 193-211. Obv: ΙΟVΛΙΑ ΔΟ-ΜΝΑ CΕΒ, bare-headed and draped bust right. Rev: ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ, statuary group of the Three Graces side by side, the center Grace from the reverse with arms extended around the shoulders of her companions who are both facing frontward. Refs: SGI 2313; AMNG I 603; Moushmov 417; Hristova & Jekov 6.17.26.2; Staal p. 107, 15.1.1 Notes: Obverse and reverse die match to Hristova & Jekov 6.17.26.2. I share the opinion of Staal (ibid) that the coin depicting the nymphs was not simply a variation of the Three Graces type. Celators of the ancient world were obviously familiar with the statuary grouping of the Three Graces type and its representation is astonishingly uniform across the ancient coins depicting them. Moreover, this Three Nymphs coin type was minted alongside the Three Graces type (linked by the same obverse die, even). It seems highly unlikely that such substantial variations in iconography was not intentional. So who or what are these Three Nymphs, then? We don't know with certainty. A very similar reverse type is depicted on an Æ 20 of Crispina from Augusta Traiana: Staal, Pl. 3, Fig. 14; Schönert-Geiss, Augusta Traiana 113; Varbanov 945. Photo courtesy of CNG, electronic auction 319, lot 193, Jan 29, 2014. On this coin, it is noteworthy that the two outside nymphs each carry a jug, just as on my Three Nymphs coin of Marcianopolis, above. Schonert-Geiss[2] suggests the depiction of the Three Nymphs on coins from Augusta Traiana and Trajanopolis represents the three rivers that flowed through the area, arguing the presence of the Nymphs' water jugs reflected a meaningful representation to residents of the region of the three life-giving sources of water. A similar situation existed in Marcianopolis (now Devnya, Bulgaria). There were three important bodies of water in the city; the city stands on the western shore of Lake Beloslav, which is fed by two rivers, the Devnya and Provadiya. I too wonder if the citizens of Marcianopolis would have taken the Three Nymphs and their water jugs as allegorical of these bodies of water. I have been able to identify online only four other examples of a coin of Julia Domna from Marcianopolis depicting The Three Nymphs and they appear to have produced from only two pairs of obverse and reverse dies, without crossover between them. That is to say, obverse die 1 is always used with reverse die A and obverse 2 is always used with reverse die B. Die pair 1A: Obverse die 1 has a rather thick-necked bust and the inscription IOVΛIA ΔO-MNA CEB, (i.e. the legend is broken after the O in ΔOMNA). The O in ΔOMNA is small and spaced rather far from the preceding Δ. The E in CEB is block-form and the B in CEB is very tall, with distinctly separate loops. Reverse die A has the following distinctive features: The Nymph's jug at the 9:00 position is set between the M and the A in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ and the jug at the 3:00 position abuts the final N of the reverse inscription. The Nymphs may not wear belts (unclear due to wear). The hair bun of the Nymph on the left abuts the I in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ at 10:00; the hair bun of the Nymph on the right abuts the I in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ at 1:00. Several of the letters in the reverse inscription -- especially the T -- have a dagger-like points pointing perpendicularly upward or downward from their serifs. My coin, Numismatik Naumann Auction 65, lot 293, May 6, 2018 The Staal plate coin (plate 3, fig. 15, p. 157; Gorny & Mosch Auction 108, lot 1421, April 3, 2001). Die pair 2B: Obverse die 2 has a thin-necked portrait of the empress and the inscription reads IOVΛIA ΔOMNA CЄ, with the inscription broken after IOVΛIA and ending with a lunate Є. The Δ in ΔOMNA starts at the 1:00 position, right at the front of Julia Domna's hair. The M in ΔOMNA is broad and the N "leans backwards." The crossbar of the final Є is longer than the top and bottom strokes. Reverse die B has the following distinctive features: The left Nymph's jug faces the A in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ and the jug of the right Nymph abuts the rather large space between the the Ω and the final N of the reverse inscription. There is a fairly wide space between the Ρ and the Κ of ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ. The Nymphs each wear belts and a horizontal line passed through their belts would extend through this space in the letters. The hair bun of the Nymph on the left abuts the A in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ at 10:00; the hair bun of the Nymph on the right abuts the Λ in ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛΙΤΩΝ at 2:00. There are no dagger-like points pointing perpendicularly upward or downward from the serifs of the letters. Specimen at Wildwinds, said to be the Varbanov plate coin. Numismatik Naumann Auction 50, lot 292, Feb 5, 2017. HD Rauch Auction 82, lot 393, April 23, 2008. Please post comments or anything you feel is relevant. I'd love to see additional examples of these fascinating coins. References: 1. Staal, Mark A. The Three Graces and Their Numismatic Mythology. Mark A. Staal, 2004. 2. Schonert-Geiss, Edith. Griechisches münzwerk: Die münzpragung von Augusta Traiana und Traianopolis. Akademie-Verlag, 1991.
I don't know any Three Graces / Three Nymphs coins but I have Mark's book. He has a web page of examples at http://www.ancientcoinage.org/three-graces-coins.html
One of my favorite coins is this Three Graces from Marcianopolis. The one on the left holds a water jug and has a dolphin at her feet, whereas the one on the right holds a wreath and has a jug at her feet. COMMODUS AE25. 7.69g, 25mm. MOESIA INFERIOR, Marcianopolis, circa AD 177-192. H&J 6.10.26.4 (this coin illustrated); RPC IV online 4319; AMNG I 540; Varbanov 702 corr. (direction of heads). O: ΑΥ ΚΑΙ Λ ΑΥΡΗ ΚΟΜΟΔΟС, Bareheaded, draped, and cuirassed bust right. R: ΜΑΡΚΙΑΝΟΠΟΛƐΙΤΩΝ, the Three Graces standing facing, heads left, right, and right, respectively: the left holds oinochoe over dolphin, the center drapes arms over others, and the right holds wreath over oinochoe. Ex Dr. George Spradling Collection; Ex Alexandre de Barros Collection (CNG E143, 12 July 2006, lot 115); ex CNG 47 (16 Sep 1998) lot 833 I have a couple of earlier coins with trios of local nymphs. This one is from Thermai Himerensis (Himera) in Sicily, which was famous for its hot springs. The veiled one in the middle may be the eponymous city nymph, with the flanking ones possibly just generic naiads. SICILY, Himera (as Thermai Himerensis) AE Hemilitron. 6.72g, 23.2mm. SICILY, Himera (as Thermai Himerensis), circa after 252 BC. CNS 22; SNG München 370; Sear 1113. O: Head of Herakles to right, wearing lion skin headress; club on shoulder. R: ΘΕΡΜΙΤΑΝ, three nymphs standing facing, middle one wearing a veil. This 1st century BC Illyrian drachm shows the three nymphs of Apollonia's nymphaeum dancing around its famous fire (between the feet of the second and third nymph). ILLYRIA, Apollonia AR Drachm. 3.26g, 20.4mm, ILLYRIA, Apollonia, circa mid-late 1st century BC. Maier 135; SNG Copenhagen 405 var. (magistrate). O: Laureate head of Apollo left; APXHN to left. R: Three nymphs dancing around the Fire of the Nymphaeum of Apollonia; NIKANOP in exergue.
WoWiE! The Celetor'sc centering hole, on that first coin, couldn't have been place more hilariously, intentionally or not. And I aint referring to the obverse hole in ol Commodus neck...
Looking at an old thread, I notice @icerain has a coin that is an obverse die match to my Three Graces and Three Nymphs coins (but a different reverse die). His even has the cud from a die break in front of Domna's nose, as on my Three Graces coin. Here's his example: Here are my examples:
Wonderful and thoughtful posting! Thanks for the write-up and fantastic coins! Learned a lot... I am glad you are a ROMAN COLLECTOR, however, I like that you are more in the Empire...I learn from your postings, and it leaves me room to collect where I enjoy: The Republic. I do not have any 3 Nymphs... However, I do have several coins having A Nymph (no plural...) Here is one I like from Bruttium... WELL before your coins. And, of course, it is during the Punic Wars... Bruttium AE 18 Hemiobol 215-205 BC 2nd Punic Nymph Terina Nike Zeus O-R
@Roman Collector , I gave your post a "like," but it is far more interesting than that and I would give it several if I could! Nice work! Thanks for the information. Julia Domna 24 mm. 6.64 grams. Marcianopolis. Sear Greek Imperial 2313. The Three Graces, 15.3.7e pages 107-8 cites 18 examples.
Very interesting. Is there any chance the Graces are here conflated with the local nymphs and corresponding waterways? I don’t know how fluid Roman mythology is.
I know that Miletos had many colonies in that area, and they apparently worshipped Aphrodite as a sea goddess back in Miletos. I also read that in some accounts the Graces are the children of Aphrodite. So if the traditions carried on, there is a plausible connection to the earlier cultic practices stemming from the Milesian colonies.
How wonderful! Thanks, mate. Bonnie cunyie, coin-grats!! I vote for the aquatic hypothesis, probably some kind of local (thracian, dacian, illyrian... who knows! Moesia was a real crossroads!) syncretism around the water. I'm thinking about something like Coventina´s Well cult (Hadrian´s Wall) and others Indo-European triple deities and/or nymphs... (I know, I know, I have got to quit drinking... ). Sources from Wiki: "Georges Dumézil's trifunctional hypothesis proposed that ancient Indo-European society conceived itself as structured around three activities: worship, war, and toil. In later times, when slave labor became common, the three functions came to be seen as separate "classes", represented each by its own god. Dumézil understood this mythology as reflecting and validating social structures in its content: such a tripartite class system is found in ancient Indian, Iranian, Greek and Celtic texts. In 1970 Dumézil proposed that some goddesses represented these three qualities as different aspects or epithets and identified examples in his interpretation of various deities including the Iranian Anahita, the Vedic Sarasvati and the Roman Juno. Vesna Petreska posits that myths including trinities of female mythical beings from Central and Eastern European cultures may be evidence for an Indo-European belief in trimutive female "spinners" of destiny. But according to the linguist M. L. West, various female deities and mythological figures in Europe show the influence of pre-Indo-European goddess-worship, and triple female fate divinities, typically "spinners" of destiny, are attested all over Europe and in Bronze Age Anatolia. At her sacred grove at Aricia, on the shores of Lake Nemi a triplefold Diana was venerated from the late sixth century BCE as Diana Nemorensis. Andreas Alföldi interpreted a late Republican numismatic image as the Latin Diana "conceived as a threefold unity of the divine huntress, the Moon goddess and the goddess of the nether world, Hekate". This coin shows that the triple goddess cult image still stood in the lucus of Nemi in 43 BCE. The Lake of Nemi was Triviae lacus for Virgil (Aeneid 7.516), while Horace called Diana montium custos nemoremque virgo ("keeper of the mountains and virgin of Nemi") and diva triformis ("three-form goddess"). Diana is commonly addressed as Trivia by Virgil and Catullus" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventina https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_deity
This is very interesting and exactly the sort of thing I wondered about regarding the identities of these female deities. Coins are not just archaeological artifacts, but they are cultural artifacts as well and they shed light on the beliefs and values of ancient people.
