Unidentified coin in Sol Numismatik biddr auction proves to be a surprise of historic proportions

[seth77]

I was watching the Sol Numismatik auction yesterday, not necessarily because I was after something in particular. In my list I had amongst others, lot 256:

A smallish provincial 4.21g 21mm with a very nice reddish earthen filling. It was in the company of a few Peloponnesian Roman provincials, so I figured this would also be from around those parts. As usual with these, every since I inadvertently won a very rare issue of Phigalia without knowing what it was at the time, I keep an eye out to see if similar rarities might fly beneath the sensors of other bidders. I had no idea what the town was (although in hindsight the ethnic is rather clear now) but I liked the way it looked and I liked the reverse figure. It reminded me of Kabeiros or the Regi Artis incarnation of Hephaistos. 

The auction arrives to these lots, the prices rise fast to above 100 and for some above 200EUR. I thought well that's it, this portion of the auction certainly attracted the attention of Greek collectors. So here come lot 256. A firefight of a bidding war. The end result? 1900EUR pre-fees.

But why?

Apparently this is the second known specimen from the local mint of a town called Tainaron/Taenarum in Laconia. The town is unknown in any and all references, RPC included. Up until very recently, nobody knew that this small town had minted any coins, especially under Roman rule, when most of Greece had already lost its shine.

So who is that on the reverse?

Well, if the coin was minted at Taenarum and the character does resemble the likes of Kabeiros and Regi Artis, the highest likelihood is that the figure was supposed to be Taenarus, son of Zeus (or Poseidon) who sailed to Peloponnese and took control of the peninsula bearing his name even today. As a founding hero and a protector of sailors and patron of sailing (alongside his brothers Calabrus and Geraestus), he is close in function and attributes to the mystery cult of the Kabeiri. Thus it makes sense that his representation would be similar, probably alluding to a local cult at Taenarum. This cult might also have had a lot in common with the Tainarion cave located nearby the town, which was considered either as a gateway into the underworld (according to Ovid) or as the dwelling of Hades himself. The temple of Poseidon at Taenarum in conjunction with the temples dedicated to Hades around the cave might suggest a cult dedicated to the souls of lost sailors or people lost at sea in general.

I did not arrive at all these conclusions myself, in fact I would've still be left perplex by the price, if I hadn't come across a discussion about this coin on facebook this morning.

An incredible coin and proof that, like in other areas of numismatics, provincial coinage still has secrets to be revealed.

 

Edited March 5, 2023 by seth77

[John Conduitt]

21 minutes ago, seth77 said:

I was watching the Sol Numismatik auction yesterday, not necessarily because I was after something in particular. In my list I had amogst others, lot 256:

A smallish provincial 4.21g 21mm with a very nice reddish earthen filling. It was in the company of a few Peloponnesian Roman provincials, so I figured this would also be from around those parts. As usual with these, every since I inadvertently won a very rare issue of Phigalia without knowing what it was at the time, I keep an eye out to see if similar rarities might fly beneath the sensors of other bidders. I had no idea what the town was (although in hindsight the ethnic is rather clear now) but I liked the way it looked and I liked the reverse figure. It reminded me of Kabeiros or the Regi Artis incarnation of Hephaistos. 

The auction arrives to these lots, the prices rise fast to above 100 and for some above 200EUR. I thought well that's it, this portion of the auction certainly attracted the attention of Greek collectors. So here come lot 256. A firefight of a bidding war. The end result? 1900EUR pre-fees.

But why?

Apparently this is the second known specimen from the local mint of a town called Tainaron/Taenarum in Laconia. The town is unknown in any and all references, RPC included. Up until very recently, nobody knew that this small town had minted any coins, especially under Roman rule, when most of Greece had already lost its shine.

So who is that on the reverse?

Well, if the coin was minted at Taenarum and the character does resemble the likes of Kabeiros and Regi Artis, the highest likelihood is that the figure was supposed to be Taenarus, son of Zeus (or Poseidon) who sailed to Peloponnese and took control of the peninsula bearing his name even today. As a founding hero and a protector of sailors and patron of sailing (alongside his brothers Calabrus and Geraestus), he is close in function and attributes to the mystery cult of the Kabeiri. Thus it makes sense that his representation would be similar, probably alluding to a local cult at Taenarum. This cult might also have had a lot in common with the Tainarion cave located nearby the town, which was considered either as a gateway into the underworld (according to Ovid) or as the dwelling of Hades himself. The temple of Poseidon at Taenarum in conjunction with the temples dedicated to Hades around the cave might suggest a cult dedicated to the souls of lost sailors or people lost at sea in general.

I did not arrive at all these conclusions myself, in fact I would've still be left perplex by the price, if I hadn't come across a discussion about this coin on facebook this morning.

An incredible coin and proof that, like in other areas of numismatics, the provincial coinage still has secrets to be revealed.

 

Interesting. It doesn't seem to give many clues. How do they know they minted coins at Taenarum, if there are only two, and this one doesn't exactly confirm it? Because the reverse figure is associated with the town? It doesn't even seem to be clear who it is. The auction house certainly don't seem to think so.

[seth77]

This is what Mark Fox writes about it on facebook:

Dear Group,

This is actually the second known Roman provincial of Taenarum. The first was independently identified by myself and an experienced researcher from Germany in 2021. That piece is currently in the Aiello collection. Being naturally excited with the discovery, I shared my findings with two close friends, one of whom kept an eye out for new sightings. That person is now the owner of the second coin. And I have to get going now and write the article I had planned to do since the first wow event!

By the way, Taenarus is also another possibility for the reverse figure on the present coin, suggested to me by my friend. MTF.

[seth77]

With this comment and if you read the reverse legend, it is clear that the ethnic is TAI - NAPIΩN. The town was not known to have minted any Roman provincial coins until 2021. Now there are 2 known specimens.

[John Conduitt]

2 minutes ago, seth77 said:

With this comment and if you read the reverse legend, it is clear that the ethnic is TAI - NAPIΩN. The town was not known to have minted any Roman provincial coins until 2021. Now there are 2 known specimens.

Yes makes sense, especially if the other coin is clear.

[seth77]

This one is clear enough to confirm the ethnic once you know that Taenarum minted coin. The real work and inspiration was when the first researcher in 2021 came to the conclusion that he was seeing a coin of Taenarum at a time when nobody else knew that town produced any coinage.

[Roman Collector]

Wow! That's quite a discovery. And you're right -- the ethnic on the reverse is unambiguous. Send the info to RPC; it's important.

[Ocatarinetabellatchitchix]

There was a coin of Julia Domna discussed on another forum a few years ago, with maybe the same reverse legend.

21mm  4.6g

 

[John Conduitt]

50 minutes ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

There was a coin of Julia Domna discussed on another forum a few years ago, with maybe the same reverse legend.

21mm  4.6g

Maybe people will find more when they look at what they have in their collections.

[seth77]

1 hour ago, Ocatarinetabellatchitchix said:

There was a coin of Julia Domna discussed on another forum a few years ago, with maybe the same reverse legend.

21mm  4.6g

 

 

Thank you, I was wondering what was that coin that was attributed in 2021 to Taenarum. Poseidon compliments nicely Taenarus and the sacred area dedicated to Poseidon at the end of the peninsula oscillated in its dedication to Poseidon Asphaleios during the Classical period and afterwards, in the Roman period, to Poseidon Tainarios, a 'local' Poseidon, evolving from his early form as god of safety and refuge (Asphaleios). This sacred area seems to have been connected to the 'entrance to the underworld cave' and the whole complex is referred to as Sanctuary and Death Oracle of Poseidon Tainarios (Iero kai nekromanteio Poseidonos Tainariou), which brings its presumed purpose as a sanctuary protecting the souls of the lost seafarers even closer to home and Taenarus's instrumental place in this very interesting local cult even more interesting.

It's wonderful how much of what could've been lost forever can be retraced (even if sometimes by associations and hypotheses rather than direct evidence) from the study of numismatics in conjunction with local history.

Edited March 5, 2023 by seth77

[seth77]

2 hours ago, Roman Collector said:

Wow! That's quite a discovery. And you're right -- the ethnic on the reverse is unambiguous. Send the info to RPC; it's important.

There was already discussion regarding adding the town to RPC, J. Mairat was there in the comments. The facebook discussion can be followed at the link I provided in OP.

[seth77]

RPC Map has already added the town.

[Phil Davis]

On 3/5/2023 at 8:57 AM, seth77 said:

I did not arrive at all these conclusions myself, in fact I would've still be left perplex by the price, if I hadn't come across a discussion about this coin on facebook this morning.

 

I get a "content unavailable" note at the FB link. I'm in fact FB friends with Mark Fox, but he hasn't posted anything on his own page in years. Was this a link to one of the FB coin groups?

[seth77]

25 minutes ago, Phil Davis said:

I get a "content unavailable" note at the FB link. I'm in fact FB friends with Mark Fox, but he hasn't posted anything on his own page in years. Was this a link to one of the FB coin groups?

Yes, the group is called Roman Provincial Coinage and is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/516847581809995

(I didn't consider checking if the posts there are available to non-members, I'm sorry)

 

Edited March 6, 2023 by seth77