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Ancient Coins
F
AMOUS
"P
YRRIC
V
ICTORY
" G
OLD
S
TATER
Enlargement
1500 Calabria, Taras. Gold Stater (8.55 g), ca. 276-272 BC
. Nikar…, magistrate. Laureate head of Zeus left; behind, NK monogram.
Reverse:
, eagle with wings displayed standing right on thunderbolt; in right field, two
amphorae; ti upp left, magistrate' s name: [NI]KAP. Fischer-Bossert G42c (V37/R42; this coin); Vlasto 40; SNG ANS 1039 (same dies); Gulbenkian
41 (same dies); BMC 3 (same dies); HN Italy 983.
Very Rare.
Boldly struck and perfectly centered.
Choice Very Fine
.
Estimate Value ......................................................................................................................................................................... $15,000 - UP
From the Hanbery Collection; Purchased privately from F. Kovacs in 1991. Ex Peus 332 (23 October 1991), 12; Leu 52 (15 May 1991), 3; Superior
(10 December 1988), 1703.
This stater is part of a larger gold series that includes halves, thirds, quarters, eighths, tenths, twelfths, and sixteenths, featuring the heads of
Zeus, Herakles, Apollo, or Athena on the obverse, and their respective associated animals (eagle or owl) or Taras/Phalanthos, the mythological/
historical founder of Tarentum on the reverse. The double-amphora symbol associated with the eagle on this coin alludes to Tarentum' s origin as
a colony of the half-Spartan Parthenians. In Lakedaimon (Sparta), the Dioskouroi were worshipped in this peculiar aniconic form, which also
occurs on some Lakedaimonian coins of the late Hellenistic period.The series to which this stater belongs was struck essentially as a result of
Roman expansion in the early third century BC and the somewhat ill-conceived response of the Tarentines. When the Romans broke a treaty with
the Tarentines in order to subdue the Lucanian city of Thurium, the Tarentines intervened and forcibly expelled the Roman garrison from Thurium.
While it no doubt felt good to the Greek Tarentines kick the barbarian Romans out of a fellow Greek city, the euphoria soon evaporated and they
realized that the Romans would be back in great force to seek revenge.Knowing that a great and terrible Roman storm would soon rise upon
them, the Tarentines sought the help of mercenaries from mainland Greece and a great military leader in the person of the Epeirote king Pyrrhos.
Luckily for the Tarentines, Pyrrhos had just been driven out of the Macedonian part of his kingdom and happened to be in search of new adven-
ture. Thus he led his forces to Tarentum and embarked upon the great Pyrrhic War (280-275 BC) against the Romans. He defeated the Romans in
two battles, but because of their network of subject-allies they continued to command vast resources of manpower. Frustrated at his ability to
defeat, but not actually crush the Romans, Pyrrhos famously remarked, “[if] we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be
utterly ruined" (Plut.
Pyrrh.
21.9). This statement gave rise to the expression "Pyrrhic victory," meaning a victory in which the cost is so high that
it negates any sense of triumph.The cost of Pyrrhos victories also weighed heavily on the Tarentines, who needed their gold and silver coinages in
large quantities in order to meet the demands of the king and his mercenary army. The cost ultimately proved to be all for nothing since Pyrrhos
abandoned the Tarentine project in 278 BC to seek his fortune in Sicily. When he returned in 275 BC, he was defeated by the Romans at Beneven-
tum and withdrew to Epeiros with most of his army. Three years later, Tarentum was besieged and captured by the Romans.
Enlargement
1501 Calabria, Taras. Gold Hemistater (4.17 g), ca. 276-272 BC
. Nikar., magistrate. Head of Herakles right, wearing lion' s skin headdress.
Reverse:
TAPANTIN
N, Taras or Phalanthos, holding reins and trident, driving galloping biga right; above, magistrate' s name: NIKAP; below, two
amphorae. Fischer-Bossert G31 (V27/R31); Vlasto 32 (same dies); SNG ANS 1038 (same dies); BMC 14 (same dies); HN Italy 984.
Very Rare.
Very Fine
.
Estimate Value .......................................................................................................................................................................$1,000 - 1,300
From the Hanbery Collection.