Why I love collecting Greek ancients/ From Thessaly to Sicily there must be 1,001 beautiful faces

Looky, looky what Mrs Postwoman just delivered to me. My 2 latest winnings from Artemide!
So equally beautiful, I'm having a hard time remembering which one was the snack... oh wait, ladies this beautiful are both main courses


I was just blown away and ecstatic winning her, if you couldn't tell, as I added her as my avatar even before receiving her.
Larissa, the capitol of Thessaly,

(New high rises being built currently in Larissa)

had a massive outpouring of coinage bearing the portrait of Larissa, the areas sea nymph and daughter of Pelasgus. She even has a moon named after her as it circles Neptune!

(Neptune's moon, Larissa... cover your shame Neptune!)

Now that she's here though, in hand, and with that savory patina, I'm in awe. The coin is a bit brighter which highlights the juxtaposing green and brown and does show more detail. All that said her beauty isn't lost due to poor shading in this picture:

Thessaly, Larissa. AE 20 mm. c. 370-360 BC. Obv. Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly left. Rev. Horseman, wearing kausia, riding right. Cf. SNG Cop. 141. AE. 5.15 g. 20.00 mm. Green-brown patina. Good VF/VF.
Purchased from Artemide Aste Aug 2021

Arethusa, also a sea nymph, as well is celebrated on a score of mesmerizing ancient coins from Sicily
Though, her story is a much sadder one.
River God, Alpheus, fell in love with and pursued/ stalked her to no end. After hearing her prayers Artemis turned Arethusa into a cloud so that she may float away from her persuere and so she may escape his carnal desire... However, due to her inability to stop crying she turned herself into a stream! Again, Artemis assisted, by breaking ground for Arethusa to flow through. Only, ultimately, for him to finally catch up to and mingle with her steam.

(Some guys just don't take no for an answer)

Again, a poorly lit picture and also a smaller coin equals a real showstopper in hand. Her beauty, the hair tied loosely back in her SAKKOS (Va Va Voom!), the little olive leaves and a spectacular dolphin make this a keeper in my Sicilian collection for a lifetime... or two

Sicily. Syracuse. Dionysos I (406-367 BC). AE Hemilitron. Obv. Head of Arethusa left, wearing necklace, hair bound in ampyx and sphendone; olive leaves behind. Rev. Dolphin swimming right; Σ Y P A and cockle shell below. CNS II 24/1-7; HGC 2 1480. AE. 2.58 g. 16.00 mm. Good VF.
Purchased from Artemide Aste Aug 2021

Please share your coins of Larissa, Arethusa, great stories of Greek mythology, Artemide wins, sakkos our whatever is within this threads orbit

 

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I really love your writeups, very creative. Nice, very nice

 

Very lovely coins, @Ryro! Hubba hubba!!! Eye-poppin'!



Fun write up, too! Always an entertaining multimedia extravaganza with a Ryro post!

I have only one coin of Larissa and it features ...





None other than Faustina the Younger!!! And it features Athena Itonia, about whose mythology our own mythologist, @Jochen1, has written so eloquently.


Faustina II, AD 147-175.
Roman provincial Æ assarion, 6.04 g, 19.2 mm, 1 h.
Koinon of Thessaly, Larissa, AD 158-165.
Obv: ΦΑVϹΤЄΙΝΑ ϹЄΒΑϹΤΗ; bare-headed and draped bust of Faustina II, right.
Rev: ΚΟΙΝΟΝ ΘЄϹϹΑΛⲰΝ; Athena Itonia in snake-adorned aegis, striding right, brandishing spear and holding shield.
Refs: RPC IV.1 4570 (temporary); Rogers 98a, SNG Cop 349; SNG Evelpidis 1685; BCD Thessaly II 966.1 & 966.2.
Notes: Ex-BCD collection. Issued in three denominations: tetrassarion (RPC 4569), diassarion (RPC 4568), and assarion (such as this coin).

 

You always make me chuckle, @Ryro ! Enjoy the writeup. Really like that coin!

LARISSA


Thessaly Larissa 344-337 BCE AR Obol 0.68g 9mm 3/4 Facing NymphLarissa Horse Grazing SNG Cop 1
Gifted from @ancientcoinguru

 

ARETHUSA



Syracuse
Gelon 485-478 BCE
AR Tet
24mm 16.7g
Slow Biga Victory
Arethusa 4 dolphins
Sear-Greek S 914
Ex Charles Reeve

 

Aaaaand a SAKKOS as requested:

Sakkos


Mysia, Kyzikos
Æ12 1.2g, 6h; c. 400 BC - 3rd century BC.
Obv.: Head of Kore Soteira right, hair bound in sakkos.
Rev.: KY - ZIH; Tripod; above, crown; below, tunny fish.
SNG France 430; BMC 141-3. EDIT add: Sear Greek 3862
Ex: @John Anthony

 

Very nice coins @Ryro, good catch
Horses were very important in Thessaly and appear on many coins of Larissa, sometimes with and sometimes without a rider. The rider could be Thessalos, the eponymous hero of the Thessalians, who is probably also on many of the earlier, federal coins of Thessaly.

My very small Larissa, just a bit larger than @Alegandron's Obol. It was an impulse buy in 2018 - no one was bidding on it and I thought why not:

AR Trihemiobol, Thessaly, Larissa, ca. 356 - 337 BC
12 mm, 0.945 g
BCD Thessaly II 327; HGC 4, 475; BMC 70; Sear 2128; SNG Copenhagen 134

Ob.: Head of the nymph Larissa ¾ facing left, wearing ampyx and necklace
Rev.: (ΛAP) IΣ/(A)IΩN, Thessalian horseman, wearing petasos and chlamys, riding right, holding whip.

​

 

an Arethusa Tetradrachm, Second Democracy

Sicily, Syracuse, struck ca. 430 - 420
24 mm, 17.055 g
Boehringer 675- 676; Sear 932v, BMC Sicily, pg 161, #122

Ob.: Charioteer driving Biga to r. crowned by Nike flying r.
Rev.: head of the patron nymph of Syracuse, Arethusa, r.,whorl earring, and band wound four times around head and hair, ΣΥΡΑ(ΚΟ)ΣΙΟΝ, three dolphins, one behind the neck, two in front

​

 

Also added a Larissa, arrived yesterday

11 mm, 0,93 g
Thessaly, Larissa AR Trihemiobol. Circa 356-320 BC. Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly to left, wearing ampyx and necklace / Thessalian horseman charging to right; ΛΑΡΙΣΑΙΩΝ around. BCD Thessaly II 341; HGC 4, 515.

Despite the flaws, this coin is beautiful in hand (size helps)

The first sakkos I got

9 mm, 1,26 g
IONIA. Phokaia. Circa 521-478 BC. Diobol. Head of a nymph to left, wearing a sakkos adorned with a central band and circular earring. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Rosen 596-597 var. SNG von Aulock 1813-1815

 

... and great stories of mythology - now 2 coins surely qualify.
Both show popular mythological scenes on the reverses and as a coincidence, have obverses with Athena wearing helmets decorated with mythological characters



PONTOS. Amisos AE29 Time of Mithradates VI Eupator, ca 105-90 or 90-85 BC
Helmeted head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Pegasos
Rev: AMI - ΣOY - Perseus standing left, holding harpa and head of Medusa, whose decapitated body lies at his feet; monogram to left and right.
SNG BM Black Sea 1169-72; HGC 7, 238.
30 mm, 18,30 g



10 mm, 0,90 g
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 380-325 BC. AR Diobol Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with hippocamp/ Herakles crouching right, holding club and strangling the Nemean Lion to right. Vlasto 1303–5; HN Italy 911.

 

Thanks for all the posts and beauuuuuutiful coins
You know how to Crack me up @Roman Collector And when the reveal was that its a Faustina, I had to pick my jaw up off the floor Though, now I must post an obligatory MSC.
My latest Pyrrhic coin was a major victory (see what I did there?). Not only is it a beauty, but she's extremely rare:

Pyrrhos (of Epiros). 287-285 BC and 274-273 BC. Æ Unit (17mm, 4.75 g, 7h). Uncertain mint in Macedon. Monogram of Pyrrhos on boss of Macedonian shield / Macedonian helmet; BAΣI below; all within oak wreath. W. Weiser, “Ein neues Kupferstück des Pyrrhos als König der Makedonen” in SM 144 (November 1986), –; AMNG III –; SNG Alpha Bank 970; BMC Thessaly 38-9. VF, green patina.
Savoca Sept 2021
Extremely rare issue without reverse monograms. Coins of the Epeirote king Pyrrhos are known from many different mints, following his exploits around the northern Mediterranean. His two short tenures as king of Macedon, though, did not produce a very robust coinage. His rare issues are all bronze, and all have the same obverse type – his monogram on the boss of a Macedonian shield. The reverse type is also standard, a Macedonian helmet within an oak wreath, and the legend BAΣI below the helmet. Almost all of the known examples, though, have a monogram between the alpha and sigma in the legend. The present variety, without monogram is only known from the Alpha Bank and BMC specimens. None are present in any other published private or public collection. Purchased from Savoca Sept 2021

And I don't know what I love me @Alegandron your sakkos or Arethusa, jk. Though both are beauties, I'd marry your Arethusa... if she'd have me
Here's my more experienced example:


Speaking of lovely tets, WoWiE @cmezner


Nice me Larissa my homie @ambr0zie
It's funny how different the really little ones look in hand. And great sakkos! Here's mine of the type:

And great mythology as well. I really love your Perseus
There's no 2 ways about it @Andres2 has the sweetest silver Larissa in this threadAnd that silver Punic Sicilian Great stuff my friend

 

If I remember correctly, we bought the Phokaia diobols from the same auction.

Here is my 2nd sakkos (I know you like this accessory)

Corinthia. Corinth circa 345-307 BC.
Drachm AR

13 mm, 1,87 g

Pegasos flying left, wings curled, Koppa below. / Head of Aphrodite left, hair in a sakkos. ΠA monogram behind head. BCD Corinth 162; SNG Fitzwilliam 3455-3456; SNG Cop. 136.

 

Oooh, nice Larissa, Scooby! Her nose and mouth aren't even smooshed. The Dionysos I hemilitron isn't a type you see every day and it's a winner .

Looks like I have only one Larissa and it's Larissaless but it does have Achilles, Thetis, and a hippocamp so that's pretty dang cool .


THESSALY, Larissa Kremaste
4th century BCE
Æ Trichalkon; 16mm, 6.0 g
Obv: head of Achilles left
Rev: ΛΑΡΙ; Thetis, holding shield of Achilles with AX (=Achilles) monogram, seated left on hippocamp
Ref: BCD Thessaly I –; BCD Thessaly II 403.1; HGC 4, 13
Ex BCD Collection
Ex Hopper Collection (Sotheby’s, 9 March 1989), lot 519 (part)

You called for Arethusa? Can do .

SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles
struck 310-305 BCE
AR tetradrachm, 17.40 g, 24 mm
Obv: head of the nymph Arethusa left, wearing grain wreath, earring and necklace; around, three dolphins; under, monogram (NK?)
Rev: ΣYPAKOΣIΩN, fast chariot charioteer leads to left, holding reins and kentron; above, triskeles; in exergue, monogram
Ref: Ierardi 12 (O2-R8); SNG Copenhagen 573 var., SNG ANS 637
The story of its acquisition is here.

A maybe-Arethusa:


Sicily, Syracuse. Second Democracy
c. 425 BCE
Æ tetras, 13 mm, 1.9 gm
Obv: Female head right (Arethusa?); XXX before; X behind
Rev: Hippocamp right, octopus below
Ref: CNS 30; SNG ANS 1382; rare

 

Sicily, Syracuse
Circa 410 BC. Hemilitron (3.21 gm; 18 mm x 14 mm). Head of Arethusa left, hair in ampyx and sphendone, in field right, laurel twig; whole in linear circle / ΣΥΡΑ Dolphin right, below, pecten. Calciati II, 55, 24. SNG ANS 418. This piece, though unsigned, may have been created by one of the greats of Syracuse minting, as it displays superior skills in artistic approach and engraving.

 

Sicily Syracuse Third Democracy

Hemilitron (AE 17mm) 344-317 bc. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ head of Persephone l., wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace, hair tied with fillet. Rv. Forepart of Pegasos left; below Σ. 4,83gr. Head of Persephone. SNG ANS 530; SNG Cop.734; Laffaille 224; Virzi 1493; Calciati II 184,79An unusual depiction of Pegasos on a bronze from Syracuse, this coin is roughly from the time of Timoleon or the Third Democracy.

 

LOL… trying to put together that mental image of the wedding night… um… No.

 

Syracuse is rather unique in my collection - just so far out from every other interest in numismatics in that it is a narrow singular focus because I really do not have interest in any other ancients but the Sicilian coins are not just monetary forms - they are fantastic works of art in miniature.





SICILY, Syracuse. Agathokles. 317-289 BC.

AE 23 (10,39 gm; 23 mm) ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΩΝ wreathed head of Persephone left / Nike in biga to right; star above. SNG ANS 768. Calciati II, 259, 123. This piece is fascinating, it is a very unique design and unlike the more common contemporaneously issued bronzes with Artemis and the Thunderbolt. This piece features the Goddess, Persephone, and the reverse of Nike in Biga on the reverse. In essence this piece is a design more typically found in silver pieces, such as Tetradrachms.

 

That is a stunner And some truly excellent Sicilians all around
Here's my other coin of the type in desperate need of a reshoot:

 

Nice portraits!

That Agathokles tetradrachm is a stunner.

Here's a facing Athena, slightly three-quarters, from Paionia, a tetradrachm, 315-286 BC.

Facing portraits are especially challenging to engrave correctly, and the Greeks seemed to have the touch.

11.98 grams