CALABRIA. Tarentum. Circa 280-272 B.C. AR nomos. 6.47 gm. 20 mm. Nude youth on horseback right, crowning horse raising left foreleg with wreath; EY to upper left; below, AΠOΛΛΩ above two amphorae standing on ground line / Phalanthos, naked, holding kantharos and cradling long trident, astride dolphin left; ΘΙ to left, B to right, ΤΑΡΑΣ below. HN Italy 1010. Vlasto 764. HGC 1, 884. Near Extremely Fine; wonderful cabinet tone with traces of iridescence; sharply struck in high relief with artistic fine style dies, on a full round flan with fresh surfaces; good metal; well centered but reverse with its large dynamic design slightly off-centre. An attractive example from the iconic "boy on a dolphin" series. Scarce.
Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 114 (6 May 2019) lot 1007. Ex Busso Peus 396 (2008) lot 55. Ex Busso Peus 348 (1996) lot 9.
Tarentum was a powerful Greek colony in southern Italy. Founded by Spartan settlers around the 8th century BC, it benefitted from its strategic coastal location and grew over time into a major commercial and military power in Magna Graecia, with a strong navy and elite horsemen famous for their achievements as a powerful cavalry. According to mythology, Taras, the city's legendary founder, was the son of Poseidon, god of the sea, and the dolphin likewise emphasized the city's reliance on the sea for trade and defense.
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