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Coin Detail
Click here to see enlarged image.
ID:
162049
[UNVERIFIED]
Type:
Greek
Region:
BRUTTIUM
City:
Rhegium
Metal:
Silver
Denomination:
Tetradrachm
Struck / Cast:
struck
Date Struck:
BC Circa 445-435
Diameter:
25 mm
Weight:
17.18 g
Die Axis:
9 h
Obverse Description:
Facing lion's head
Reverse Legend:
RECI-N-OS
Reverse Description:
Iokastos seated left holding staff in right hand, left hand resting on hip; all within laurel wreath
Primary Reference:
Herzfelder 31 (D19/R26)
Reference2:
SNG ANS -
Reference3:
HN Italy 2483
Reference4:
SNG Cop -; Jameson 453 (same dies); McClean 1861 (same rev. die)
Photograph Credit:
Classical Numismatic Group
Source:
http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=79669
Grade:
Good VF, lightly toned.
Notes:
The seated figure on the reverse of the early coins of Rhegion is shown either as a muscular young man or a mature bearded figure. He holds a staff and either a phiale or kantharos. Adjunct symbols are the dog, serpent, duck, crow, and grapes. He was first identified as Iokastos, the oikistes (founder) of Rhegion, by J.P. Six in NC (1898), pp. 281-285. Prior to that, the most popular candidate was Aristaios or Agreus, son of Apollo and Kyrene (cf. Head, HN). Iokastos was one of six sons of Aiolos, ruler of the Aeolian islands, all of whom sÉcured their own realms in Italy and Sicily. Iokastos held the region around Rhegion and died of a snakebite. Aristaios, born in Libya, discovered the silphium plant, and was the patron of beekeepers (mentioned by Virgil), shepherds, vintners and olive growers. He also protected Dionysos as a child, and was the lover of Eurydike, who died of a snakebite. While Iokastos has direct connections with Rhegion, the subsidiary imagery of youth and old age, kantharos, grapes, dog, and crow all point to a Dionysiac figure. The serpent seems to play a role in both legends. The direct and indirect connections between Aristaios and Dionysos-Bacchus possibly indicate the existence of a cult of Aristaios at Rhegion. Note also the prominence of Apollo, father of Aristaeos, on later coins of Rhegion.
Created and Managed by Alfredo De La Fe
