A nimbate and radiate Glykon from Thracia

[seth77]

This is a coinage minted for Geta as Augustus during the later period of Septimius Severus reign. This was likely the time that started the most prolific period of minting in Thracia.

AE30mm 14.51g orichalcum(?) multiple assaria (pentassaria?), minted at Pautalia, ca. 209-11.
AVT K Π CE - [ΠTI ΓΕTAC]; laureate head in truncation r.
[OVΛΠΙΑϹ] ΠΑVΤΑΛΙΑϹ; coiled serpent r, nimbate and with trifurcated tail, possibly a representation of Glykon
cf. Ruzicka Pautalia 890, cf. Varbanov 5412

Possible double die-match here.

This is one of the three types of snakes appearing on Thracian coinage: the winged serpent (with Asklepios), the coiled (sometimes bearded and/or with long hair) serpent and the coiled, long-haired, nimbate and radiate serpent. They all relate to the cult of Asklepios but some of them directly and others, like the nimbate (and radiate) serpent, sometimes showing irregular features through the new cult of Glykon as an incarnation of Asklepios. As always with the serpents in the Balkan area and the western Asia Minor, there is a degree of ambiguity regarding who exactly the serpent depicted actually is. The Glykon would have been easily associated with the regular cult of Asklepios and any local cult of Macedonia and southern Thracia involving snakes. And that was likely just fine with local authorities under Roman rule.

Edited May 14, 2023 by seth77

[Curtisimo]

Great addition @seth77. The cult of Glykon is an interesting subject.

[Roman Collector]

Fun thread, @seth77! I'll contribute this old Franklin's World comic:

And a couple of Glykon-themed coins! Here's the winged serpent with Asklepios.

Caracalla, 198-217 CE.
Roman Provincial tetrassarion, 14.78 g, 29.6 mm, 1 h.
Thrace, Pautalia, c. 198-205 CE.
Obv: AVT K M AVP ANTΩNEINOC, beardless, laureate head of Caracalla, right.
Rev: OYΛΠIAC ΠAV | TAΛIAC. Asklepios cradling serpent-entwined staff, reclining left, head right, on winged, coiled, and bearded Glykon flying right.
Refs: BMC 3.145,34; Ruzicka 612; Varbanov II 5008; Moushmov 4235, Mionnet Suppl. 2, p. 384, 1084; Vaillant n. Gr. 1074.

And here's a nimbate serpent.

Gordian III, 238-244 CE.
Roman provincial Æ 27.1 mm, 12.33 g, 9 h.
Moesia Inferior, Nicopolis ad Istrum, Sabinius Modestus, legatus consularis, 241-244 CE.
Obv: ΑVΤ Κ Μ ΓΟΡΔΙΑΝΟC ΑVΓ, lauriate, draped and cuirassed bust, right.
Rev: ΥΠ CΑΒ ΜΟΔЄCΤΟV ΝΙΚΟΠΟΛЄΙΤ | ΩN ΠPOC ICTP, Nimbate figure of snake-god Glykon, coiled in two coils, rising up, head right.
Refs: RPC VII.2, 1307; Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) 8.36.22.4 (same dies); Varbanov 4146; Moushmov 1488; Mionnet Suppl. 2, 708; AMNG 2104 var.; BMC --; Lindgren --; Sear --.

[seth77]

A more live color 

 

 

 

 

[kirispupis]

Nice pickup! I wasn't aware of Glykon.

Here's my snakey coin, although to my knowledge it's from a different story.

Thessaly, Homolion
ca 350 BCE
AE 20mm 6.6g
Head of Philoktetes right, wearing conical pileos /
ΟΜΟΛ-IEΩN; serpent coiled right, grape bunch above.
Helly, Quelques 25; Rogers 257

[seth77]

17 hours ago, kirispupis said:

Nice pickup! I wasn't aware of Glykon.

Here's my snakey coin, although to my knowledge it's from a different story.

Thessaly, Homolion
ca 350 BCE
AE 20mm 6.6g
Head of Philoktetes right, wearing conical pileos /
ΟΜΟΛ-IEΩN; serpent coiled right, grape bunch above.
Helly, Quelques 25; Rogers 257

Yes, it certainly is a whole different snake from a different story. Glykon with its cult associated to Asklepios appeared in the 2nd century CE and its presence on coins becomes regular around 200. The interesting aspect of this new cult is that it adds to other serpent cults that had been going on in the Balkans and Asia Minor for centuries. The Glykon serpent also seems to have particular traits in different places -- the long hair and mammalian features on the Black Sea shore, a human head in Asia or a nimbate and radiate head with bifurcated fishtail in continental Thracia. With these characteristics Glykon adds to the already known serpents present on local coinage: the regular serpent coiled around a staff or up on a tripod for Asklepios, the Agathodaimon familiar with its beard or the crowned Uraeus, usually on Alexandrian coinage.

Many auctioneers and retailers don't bother discerning between serpents and some consider all of them to be representations of Glykon. A more honest approach if one is not going to dwell on the actual attributes of the serpent present on a coin would be to just call it 'serpent' and let the collectors deal with the specifics.