Triton XXVII - Session 1
Date: 2024-01-09 00:00:00
Lots: 336
Total starting: $ 0.00
Total realized: $ 0.00 (+0.00%)
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Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 1
CENTRAL EUROPE, Helvetii. 2nd century BC. Pale AV Stater (22mm, 7.14 g, 1h). Imitating Philip II of Macedon type. Celticized head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath / Charioteer driving devolved biga left; two parallel lines below. D.F. Allen, "The Philippus in Switzerland and the Rhineland" in SNR 53 (1974), 4d, pl. 11, 67–8; Basel –; Flesche –; HMZ 1-8; KMH –; Muret & Chabouillet 8912; Zürich –. Typical weak strike, minor edge splits. VF. Very rare. Ex Sincona 70 (19 May 2021), lot 3001.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 2
CAMPANIA, Neapolis. Circa 275-250 BC. AR Nomos (20.5mm, 7.27 g, 9h). Head of nymph left, hair restrained in band, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace; cornucopia behind neck / Man-headed bull standing right, head facing; above, Nike flying right, crowing bull with open laurel wreath held in her extended right hand; IΣ below; NEOΠOΛITΩ[N] in exergue. Sambon 522; HN Italy 586; SNG ANS 411 (same dies); SNG BN 856–7; BMC 113. Old cabinet tone, with some iridescence. Good VF. Well centered. Ex Kirk Davis FPL 77 (2021), no. 2; Ars Classica XVI (3 July 1933), lot 53; Maxime Collignon Collection (Feuardent, 17 December 1919), lot 12.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 3
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 465-455 BC. AR Nomos (20mm, 8.14 g, 9h). Phalanthos, nude, arms extended and holding wreath with both hands, riding dolphin right; retrograde TAPAΣ to upper left, shell below / Hippocamp right; crab below. Fischer-Bossert Group 7, 117a (V62/R79) = Vlasto 131 = Vlasto, Taras 15 (this coin); HN Italy 827; SNG ANS 839; SNG Ashmolean 209 = SNG Lockett 126; SNG Copenhagen 777; SNG Lloyd 119 = Bement 70; McClean 537 = Warren 19 (all from the same dies). Attractive old collection tone with a hint of iridescence, slightly off center, a touch of roughness. Good VF. Fine style. Ex Gemini II (10 January 2006), lot 6; A.D. Moretti Collection (Numismatica Ars Classica N, 26 June 2003), lot 1029; Michael Pandely Vlasto Collection; Marquis Ginori Collection; 1920 Calabria Hoard (IGCH 1886).
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 4
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 430-425 BC. AR Nomos (22mm, 7.91 g, 11h). Phalanthos, nude, holding akrostolion in his right hand and supporting himself with his left, riding dolphin left; retrograde TAPA[N]-[T]-INΩ-[N] above; below, crawfish left / Taras as Oikistes, his torso bare, wearing himation from his waist, seated left on stool, holding bird by both wings in his right hand and resting his left arm on the back of the chair; to left, dog leaping upward at the bird. Fischer-Bossert Group 17, 261d (V117/R184) = Vlasto, Taras, Type 38, i = Jameson 102 = A. J. Evans, "The 'Horsemen' of Tarentum" in NC 1889, pl. 12, 1 (this coin); Vlasto 221 (same dies); HN Italy 844; SNG ANS 856 (same dies); SNG Fitzwilliam 236 (same dies); BMC 81 (same dies). Cabinet tone, a few old scratches under tone. VF. Splendid classical style. Ex Dr. Roland Maly Collection (LHS 100, 23 April 2007), lot 34; Robert Jameson Collection (publ. 1913); Sir Arthur J. Evans Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 5
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 400-390 BC. AR Nomos (21mm, 7.81 g, 11h). Nude youth, holding rein in right hand and shield on left arm, dismounting from horse rearing left; Σ to lower left / Phalanthos, nude, holding coiled serpent in extended right hand, shield on left arm, riding dolphin left; E to left, TAPAΣ below. Fischer-Bossert Group 24, 329e (V149/R256) = Gillet 73 = Vlasto 301 (this coin); HN Italy 849; SNG Ashmolean 245 = Nanteuil 87 (same dies). Old cabinet tone, minor doubling on reverse, obverse scrapes, minor mark on edge. Good VF. Lovely style. Ex Dr. Roland Maly Collection (LHS 100, 23 April 2007), lot 45; Charles Gillet Collection; Michel Pandely Vlasto Collection; Charles Seltman Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 6
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 340-335 BC. AR Nomos (21mm, 7.63 g, 5h). Nude youth on horse standing right, holding rein in left hand, raising right hand to crown horse with wreath; Φ to right; below, nude youth crouching right, removing stone from horse's hoof / Phalanthos, nude, holding kantharos in extended right hand and trident and shield in left, riding dolphin left; TAP-AΣ to right, E and waves below. Fischer-Bossert Group 50, 697 (V262/R544); Vlasto 515 (same dies); HN Italy 818; SNG Lockett 176 (same obv. die); Gillet 32 (same obv. die); Jameson 141 (same obv. die); McClean 590 (same obv. die). Old collection tone, indications of undertype, irregular edge. Good VF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 7
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 281-276 BC. AV Stater (18.5mm, 8.55 g, 12h). Youthful head of Herakles right, wearing lion skin / Taras(?), holding reins in right hand, trident in left, driving fast biga right; star above; below horses, KΛH above dolphin downward. Fischer-Bossert G20 (V17/R20); Vlasto, Or Type O 1 [a]; Vlasto 18 (same dies); HN Italy 955; Hirsch 85 (same dies); McClean 600 (same dies). Lustrous. Superb EF. Well centered and struck. From the Columbus Collection. Ex Triton XXV (11 January 2022), lot 16.There is a divergence of opinion concerning the dating of this attractive gold issue of Tarentum, which displays a youthful head of Herakles resembling the Macedonian issues of Alexander III the Great and a reverse depicting a nude male youth holding a trident, probably Taras / Phalanthos, driving a biga. The lack of a civic ethnic and the control letters KΛH on the reverse led N. K. Rutter, in Historia Nummorum Italy, and Oliver Hoover in Handbook of Greek Coins Vol. I, to place their minting during the expedition of the Spartan commander Kleonymos, who crossed to Italy at Tarentum's invitation circa 302 BC, to pay his large mercenary army. Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert, citing the support of S. Garraffo and G.K. Jenkins, places the issue during the more famous Italian expedition of Pyrrhos of Epiros, circa 281-276 BC. The type's great rarity means there is little in the way of hoard evidence to support either side. However, their similarity to Pyrrhic bronze issues in Sicily and Pyrrhos's strong desire to emulate Alexander the Great argue for the latter dating, in which case the KΛH refers to a magistrate rather than to Kleonymos.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 8
CALABRIA, Tarentum. temp. Pyrrhos of Epeiros. Circa 276-272 BC. AV Quarter Stater – Triobol (11mm, 2.15 g, 4h). Head of Apollo right, wearing laurel wreath; NK monogram to left / Eagle standing right, wings spread, on thunderbolt; TAPAN[TINΩN] up left field; to right, [ΦI(?) above two stars] above two amphorai; NIKAP in exergue. Fischer-Bossert G58c (V49/R58 – this coin); Vlasto 57 (same dies); HN Italy 986; SNG Copenhagen 837 (same dies); Berlin 28 (same dies). Minor marks, double struck on reverse. VF. Ex Gorny & Mosch 207 (15 October 2012), lot 15; Hess-Leu [22] (4 April 1963), lot 14; Leu FPL [1] (ND [1960]), no. 4.This gold issue from Tarentum was struck during the time of Pyrrhos of Epeiros's campaigns in Italy. In the early 3rd Century BC, the Tarentines were at war with the Romans. To defeat their superior enemies, they decided that they needed the help of a powerful ally (Pausanias 1.12.1). So they sought the help of Pyrrhos, who crossed the Adriatic Sea in 280 BC. According to Pausanias, his reasons for joining the war were threefold. For one, the Tarentines had assisted him in his war with Korkyra, sending their fleet to augment Pyrrhos' forces. Secondly, Pyrrhos was enticed by the assertion of the Tarentine envoys that the land of Italy was prosperous and bountiful. The final, and perhaps most important, reason was that Pyrrhos "remembered the capture of Troy, which he took to be an omen of his success in the war, as he was a descendant of Achilles making war upon a colony of Trojans" (Pausanias 1.12.1).Plutarch relates a wonderful anecdote that as Pyrrhos was deciding whether or not to help the Tarentines, he was counseled by his advisor Kineas (Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 14.2-7). Kineas asked his ruler what they should do if they succeed in conquering the Romans, and Pyrrhos replied that they would then conquer all of Italy. When asked by Kineas, "What then?", Pyrrhos replied that he would then move on to capture Sicily. The conversation proceeded in this way, until Pyrrhos said that they would eventually conquer the entire world. Kineas then asked what they should do once all of their foes were vanquished, to which Pyrrhos said, "We shall be much at ease, and we'll drink bumpers, my good man, every day, and we'll gladden one another's hearts with confidential talks" (14.6). Finally Kineas's point became clear when he said, "Then what stands in our way now if we want to drink bumpers and while away the time with one another? Surely this privilege is ours already, and we have at hand, without taking any trouble, those things to which we hope to attain by bloodshed and great toils and perils, after doing much harm to others and suffering much ourselves" (14.7). Though this logic made him uneasy, Pyrrhos continued with his expedition to Italy.Though Pyrrhos was successful in his battles against Rome, the losses he sustained diminished his forces to the extent that he could not capitalize on his victories, so he was eventually forced to retreat back to Greece. This situation of tactical victory at a crippling cost is to what the expression "Pyrrhic victory" refers. Appropriately, after his victory over Rome at the battle of Asculum in 279 BC, Pyrrhos remarked, "If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined" (Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 21.9).
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 9
CALABRIA, Tarentum. Circa 240-228 BC. AR Nomos (20mm, 6.60 g, 10h). Reduced standard. Warrior, wearing military attire, holding Nike, who crowns him, in extended right hand, on horse rearing right; monogram to upper left, KAΛΛ[IKPA]/TH[Σ] in two lines below / Phalanthos, nude, holding Nike, who crowns him, and cradling trident in left arm, riding dolphin left; ligate NE to right, TAP[AΣ] below. Vlasto 968 (same dies); HN Italy 1059; SNG ANS 1262; SNG BN 2061; SNG Lloyd 230; Dewing 316; Gillet 117. Lustrous, a little die wear. Superb EF. Ex Roma XXII (7 October 2021), lot 149.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 10
LUCANIA, Herakleia. Circa 390-340 BC. AR Nomos (22mm, 7.75 g, 1h). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla holding rudder over her shoulder / Herakles standing facing, torso right, strangling the Nemean Lion to right; to left, retrograde EP above shell above club; HPAKΛ[EIΩN] to left. Work 29 (same dies); Van Keuren 47; HN Italy 1376; BMC 14 (same dies); McClean 822–3 (same dies). Old collection tone, minor flan crack, some doubling on obverse, struck with worn reverse die. Near EF. Ex Hess-Leu 49 (27 April 1971), lot 19.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 11
LUCANIA, Herakleia. Circa 390-340 BC. AR Nomos (21mm, 7.73 g, 1h). Head of Athena right, wearing triple-pendant earring, pearl necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla hurling a stone; Δ/Κ/Φ to right / Herakles standing facing, upper torso turned right, wrestling with the Nemean Lion; club and ΚΑΛ to left, |-HPA[KΛHIΩN] to right; between Herakles' legs, owl standing right, head facing. Work 39 (same dies); Van Keuren 50; HN Italy 1377; SNG ANS 63 = Sartiges 28 (same obv. die); SNG Lloyd 272 (same dies); Gillet 125; McClean 824 (same obv. die); Pozzi 148 (same dies); Ward 44 (same obv. die). Attractive deep iridescent tone. Good VF. Struck from wonderfully engraved dies for this type. From the Father & Son Collection. Ex Classical Numismatic Review XLVI.1 (Winter 2021), no. 564443; Roma XX (29 October 2020), lot 15; Dr. G. W. Collection (Gorny & Mosch 269, 9 March 2020), lot 90.Herakleia was a relatively late foundation along the instep of the Italian "boot," starting out as a compromise settlement between the warring city-states of Thourioi and Tarentum around 432 BC. Although widely regarded as a colony of Tarentum, Herakleia considered itself independent and played host to an annual meeting of envoys from all the Italo-Greek cities. Named after Herakles, the city's coinage naturally depicted the powerful demigod on the reverse, here in a deadly embrace with the Nemean Lion.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 12
LUCANIA, Herakleia. Circa 390-340 BC. AR Nomos (21mm, 7.81 g, 6h). Head of Athena right, wearing single-pendant earring, necklace, and crested Attic helmet decorated with Skylla throwing stone held in right hand; EY to right / Herakles standing facing, torso right, strangling the Nemean Lion to right; |-HPAKΛ[EIΩN] above, AΠOΛ and club to left, oinochoe below. Work 47 (same dies); Van Keuren 51 (same obv. die as illustration); HN Italy 1378; SNG ANS 66; Bement 138 (same obv. die); Hunterian 7 (same dies); McClean 825 (same obv. die); Weber 706 (same dies). Attractive iridescent tone. In NGC encapsulation 3760896-001, graded Ch XF, Strike: 4/5, Surface: 5/5. Well centered.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 13
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 540-510 BC. AR Nomos (27mm, 8.20 g, 12h). Ear of barley with eight grains and bracts at base; MET down left field, pellet border / Incuse ear of barley with eight grains; rayed border. Noe Class I, 1; Gorini –; HN Italy 1459; SNG ANS 166; Kraay & Hirmer 228; Prospero 51 (this coin). Attractively toned, a few minor edge marks. Superb EF. Ex Classical Numismatic Review XLIII.2 (Summer, 2018), no. 489937; Prospero Collection (New York Sale XXVII, 4 January 2012), lot 51, purchased from Spink, 22 April 1986.Metapontion was founded by residents of Kroton and Sybaris around 700 BC. Located on the sea coast on the arch of the Italian "boot," adjoining vast fertile plains, Metapontion grew in importance as a major grain exporter. By the time the Greek world started coining silver, Metapontion was already a significant city in Magna Graecia. Like its Italian neighbors, the city took to coinage early with the first issues commencing circa 540 BC. Like several nearby cities, Metapontion's first coins used an unusual fabric – an obverse design in relief combined with a reverse depicting the same design incuse. Metapontion chose an ear of barley as its emblem, reflecting the importance of its agricultural bounty. This incuse coinage remains mysterious. We do not know which city commenced it, or who conceived it (the Greek polymath Pythagoras or one of his disciples have been suggested, but with no evidence aside from his reputed presence in Italy in the later sixth century BC). Despite much speculation and experimentation, we do not know for sure how coins were struck, so the raised and incuse designs remained aligned (theories include notched, socketed or hinged dies). We do know celators throughout southern Italy quickly adopted this minting technology as many incuse coins survived to the present day. The present coin is an incredibly rare example Noe 1, the very first emission from Metapontion. Perhaps even more remarkable than its rarity is the state of preservation: we have graded this coin Superb EF, and it is probably the finest known from this initial die pair. One must wonder if, at the time of striking, this coin could have been set aside like a modern "First Strike" issue. Whichever way it arrived in the present day, this is a rare opportunity to own a superb example of the inception coinage from this important Greek city.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 14
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 510-470 BC. AR Nomos (22.5mm, 8.12 g, 12h). Ear of barley with six grains; MET up left field, lizard up right field, seen from above / Incuse ear of barley with seven grains. Noe Class X, 216 (same dies); Gorini 26; HN Italy 1482; SNG ANS 241–2; SNG Copenhagen 1168; SNG Lockett 372. Iridescent tone. Good VF. From the DFA Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 15
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 340-330 BC. AR Nomos (20.5mm, 7.62 g, 9h). Bearded head of Leukippos right, wearing Corinthian helmet; cross-torch to left / Barley ear with leaf to right; META upward to left, |-H above leaf. Johnston Class A, 5.10 (same dies); HN Italy 1555; SNG ANS 407 (same obv. die); SNG Lloyd 381 (same obv. die); SNG Copenhagen 1215 (same obv. die). Deep iridescent tone, overstruck on uncertain type, slightly off center, flan flaw in field on obverse. Near EF. Ex Stack's Bowers and Ponterio 182 (10 January 2014), lot 8; Giessener Münzhandlung 84 (13 October 1997), lot 5083; Giessener Münzhandlung 81 (3 March 1997), lot 81; Leu 61 (17 May 1995), lot 36.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 16
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 340-330 BC. AR Nomos (19.5mm, 7.90 g, 4h). Head of Leukippos right, wearing Corinthian helmet; to left, head of lion right; [AΠ monogram below chin] / Barley ear of seven grains, leaf to left; club above leaf, [AM]I below; META upward to right. Johnston Class B, 2.3–34; HN Italy 1575; SNG ANS 432–9; SNG Lloyd 377–8; Dewing 382–4. Toned, trace find patina, minor cleaning scratches. EF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 17
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 330-290 BC. AR Nomos (22mm, 7.68 g, 11h). Head of Demeter left, wearing wreath of grain ears, triple-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; ΔΩPI below chin / Barley ear with leaf to left; pitchfork above leaf, ΔA below, META upward to right. Johnston Class C, 5.1 (same dies); HN Italy 1582; SNG ANS 452 (same dies); SNG Manchester 215 (same dies); Gillet 197 (this coin). Old cabinet tone, with some iridescence, minor lamination and small chip at edge on obverse. Good VF. Attractive style. From the JTB Collection. Ex Numismatica Ars Classica 133 (21 November 2022), lot 2; Numismatica Genevensis SA 6 (30 November 2010), lot 12; The Numismatic Auction 1 (13 December 1982), lot 9; Charles Gillet Collection.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 18
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 330-290 BC. AR Nomos (20mm, 7.83 g, 3hh). Wreathed head of Demeter right, wearing triple-pendant earring and necklace; E[Y] below chin / Barley ear of seven grains with leaf to right; META upward to left, ΛY to lower left, star above leaf. Johnston Class C, 8.12 (same dies); HN Italy 1592; SNG Fitzwilliam 514 (same dies); Pozzi 192 (same obv. die). Underlying luster, a couple of tiny flan flaws. EF. Struck from dies of pleasing style. Metapontion, originally named Sybaris, was an Achaian colony of very early foundation, though the precise details of its origin are shrouded in uncertainty. Following the destruction of its first foundation by the Samnites, it was refounded, as Metapontion, early in the 7th century BC by settlers under the leadership of Leukippos, who was thereafter revered as the city founder. The great prosperity of the city - attested by the extent of its archaic silver coinage commencing in the mid 6th century BC - was based on agriculture. Situated on the Gulf of Tarentum, Metapontion occupied a plain of extraordinary fertility watered by the rivers Bradanos and Kasuentos. Its standard coin type is an ear of barley, a tribute to the source of Metapontine wealth, and Demeter, the goddess of grain who is the city's most revered deity.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 19
LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 290-280 BC. AR Nomos (21mm, 7.91 g, 2h). Head of Demeter left, wearing wreath of grain ears, single-pendant earring, and pearl necklace; K to right, ΛY below / Barley ear with leaf to right; META upward to left, spindle above leaf. Johnston Class D, 1.4 (same dies); HN Italy 1612; SNG Fitzwilliam 507 (same dies). Lightly toned with some underlying luster, trace obverse die rust, minor reverse die break, light scratches and marks. EF.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 20
LUCANIA, Sybaris. Circa 550-510 BC. AR Nomos (26mm, 8.16 g, 12h). Bull standing left, head right; VM in exergue / Incuse bull standing right, head left. S&S Class B, pl. XLVIII, 4–8; Gorini 2; HN Italy 1729; SNG ANS 828–44; SNG Lloyd 449–50; Basel 168–9; Bement 213; Dewing 406–7; Gillet 215. Attractive old cabinet tone, minor marks and deposits. Superb EF. A beautiful coin in hand. Ex H. M. Collection (Bourgey, 15 December 1909), lot 28.Sybaris, located on the bottom of the Italian boot, was founded circa 720 BC and quickly amassed great wealth due to its fertile fields and active port. Descriptions of the city's sumptuous festivals and luxurious dwellings abound in ancient literature, and "Sybarite" became a synonym for any lover of luxury and pleasure. The silver coinage of Sybaris follows the remarkable relief / incuse pattern employed by other cities of Greek southern Italy in the sixth and early fifth centuries BC, which required careful flan preparation and precise alignment of dies. The bull of Sybaris, with its reverted head, exerted a powerful influence on modern artists, including Picasso.
Classical Numismatic Group, LLC - Triton XXVII - Session 1 . 21
LUCANIA, Sybaris. Circa 550-510 BC. AR Nomos (29.5mm, 8.02 g, 12h). Bull standing left, head right; VM in exergue / Incuse bull standing right, head left. S&S Class B, pl. XLVIII, 4–8; Gorini 2; HN Italy 1729; SNG ANS 828–44; SNG Lloyd 449–50; Basel 168–9; Bement 213; Dewing 406–7; Gillet 215. Attractively toned, only a hint of the ususal die shift/bounce on obverse. Near EF. Well struck, and exceptional for issue. Ex Leu 91 (10 May 2004), lot 41; Freeman & Sear inventory G4830 (August 2004); Hess-Leu 31 (6 December 1966), lot 58.