★ The Spectacular Archaic Stater of Poseidonia ★

LUCANIA. Poseidonia. Circa 530-500 BC. Stater (Silver, 29.5 mm, 7.40 g, 12 h). ΠΟΜ Poseidon, nude but for his chlamys passing over his shoulders and behind his torso, striding to right, brandishing a trident held in his upraised right hand and stretching his left to right; cable border. Rev. ΠΟΜ Poseidon, nude but for his chlamys passing over his shoulders and behind his torso, striding to left, brandishing a trident held in his upraised right hand and stretching his left to left; rayed border; all incuse save for the trident, some body details, and the legend, which are in relief. Brousseau 60a = Gillet Plates 208 = G. Gorini, La monetazione incussa della Magna Grecia, Bellinzona, 1975, p. 30, 2 ( bottom ) and pp. 212-213 ( full page blow-ups ) = R. R. Holloway, Art and Coinage in Magna Graecia, Bellinzona, 1978, p. 76 ( this coin ). HN III 1107. Kraay - Hirmer 220 = de Luÿnes 526 ( same dies ). A remarkably attractive piece, of the finest Archaic style, struck in high relief, and beautifully toned. Extremely fine.

Property of a Late Collector, ex Bank Leu 42, 12 May 1987, 49 and from the collection of C. Gillet, Kunstfreund, Bank Leu & Münzen und Medaillen, 28 May 1974, 48.

This is one of the most spectacular of all the coins of the Archaic Period preserved until today. We have a figure of Poseidon who shows all the aspects that we would expect to see in a full-sized kouros statue: powerful, solid, legs with prominent knee caps and long hair falling down in locks to beyond his shoulders. Both the relief obverse and incuse reverse also show a particularly archaic form of perspective: his upper chest seems to be facing but his muscular abdomen and lower body are in profile to the right! This is particularly clear on the reverse and is emphasised by lines in relief. Another interesting factor this coin illustrates is the great problem ancient Greek engravers had in depicting planes of relief: on the reverse, Poseidon strides to left, stretches his left arm out to left, and holds aloft his trident, which passes behind his head, as it should, with his raised right hand; but on the obverse, with the god striding to right, for artistic reasons the engraver was forced to show Poseidon's trident, held behind his head with his right hand but on the left side of his body.
Note: A copy of each of the books by Gorini and Holloway, both of which illustrate this coin, is included with this lot.