Nomos 16

CALABRIA. Tarentum. Circa 280 BC. Stater (Gold, 17 mm, 8.53 g, 5 h). Laureate and bearded head of Zeus to right; behind neck, monogram of ΝΚ. Rev. ΤΑΡΑΝΤΙΝΩΝ Eagle, with raised wings, standing left on thunderbolt; to left, monogram of ΑΡ; to right, above wings, ΣΩΣΙ. FB G38h (this coin). Gulbenkian 44 = Vlasto 36 (same dies). HN III 983 (same dies). Extremely rare. Beautifully centered and of splendid style. Nearly extremely fine.

From the Cinquantenaire Collection, Switzerland, and the Prospero Collection, The New York Sale XXVII, 4 January 2012, 33, and from that of a 'Foreign Amateur', Glendining & Co., 13 December 1963, 24.

Tarentine gold coins are notorious for their often worn and damaged condition; this is especially true for coins of the Pyrrhic period, of which this is an unusually fine example. The coins were used to pay for foreign mercenaries and must have continued in use after their owners returned to their own countries.