Lot 1779

Description

Italy, Calabria, Taras, (334-330 B.C.), silver nomos, stater or didrachm, (7.82 grams), obv. naked horseman on prancing horse to right holding lance downwards, shield behind, below **SA*, rev. Taras astride a dolphin to left, holding a distaff, below dolphin prow of vessel to left, **TAPAS in small letters on right, (S.347, cf.Vl.586, cf.SNG ANS 985-6). Very fine.

This type was struck during the Italian campaign of the Epeirote king Alexander the Molossian. Ostensibly the champion of the Tarentines, Alexander soon revealed wider ambitions, but his career was terminated by his death in battle against the Lucanians and Bruttians.