| Numismatica Ars Classica > Auction 146 | Auction date: 8 May 2024 |
| Lot number: 2028 Price realized: This lot is for sale in an upcoming auction - Bid on this lot  | Show similar lots on CoinArchives Find similar lots in upcoming auctions on  |
| Lot description: Lucania, Heraclea. Nomos circa 360-350, AR 23 mm, 7.88 g. Helmeted head of Athena facing three-quarter r. Rev. Heracles standing r., strangling the Nemean lion; in field l., bow and club. Jameson 238. Work 22. Historia Numorum Italy 1375. Extremely rare and in unusually fine condition for the issue. An interesting facing portrait of fine style and a light iridescent tone. Minor marks, otherwise good very fine Ex Nomos sale 18, 2019, 26. From a Swiss collection formed to 2005. The types of this nomos reflect the cultural and artistic influences on Tarentum in the early fourth century BC. The obverse type is a superbly rendered three-quarter facing head of Athena wearing a triple-crested helmet. It is almost certainly derived from the famous image of the goddess engraved by Euainetos for Syracusan tetradrachms in the period 405-400 BC. This Syracusan type, along with the three-quarter facing head of Arethusa engraved by Kimon, was extremely popular and exerted a great influence on the development of coin types throughout the Mediterranean in the fourth century BC. The reverse depicts Heracles slaying the Nemean lion as the first of his Twelve Labours. It appears here as an indicator of the ethnic origins of the Tarentines. Tarentum was arguably the greatest of the few colonies sent out from the Dorian Greek city of Sparta. Like all Dorians, the Spartans claimed to be the descendants of the sons of Heracles who returned to the Peloponnesus to reclaim their lands after a period of exile. Indeed, the dual kings of Sparta were said to be direct heirs of Heracles through Eurysthenes and Procles. As Tarentum was founded in 708 BC by members of the disenfranchised Parthenian class of Sparta, the Tarentines could also claim Heraclid descent. Estimate: 5000 CHF |  |
