Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
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8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
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/ ;-=09 )(8*
=-0/ ]
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8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
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XIY.
REMARKS
ON
TWO
UNIQUE
COINS
OF AETNA AND
ZANCLE.
To
the
excellent
descriptions
f the
two
unique
silver
coins of Aetna
and Zancle
(Pl.
IX. 1
and
2)
which
the
Baron
de Hirsch
has
contributed
o
the
pages
of
the
Numismatic
Chronicle/*
may
be
allowed
to
add
a
few
comments
y way
of
furtherllustration.
The marvellous oinofAetna,nowfirst ublished, re-
sents
us
on its reverse
with
a
conception
f
Zeus
in
many
respectsvery
remarkable,
nd
to the best
of
my
know-
ledge
not found
elsewhere
n
coins.
The
attributes
nd
adjunct symbols
both
on
obverse
and
reverse,
aken
in
conjunction
with
the
type,
may
aid
us
in
particularizing
the
idea
of
Zeus which
the
artist
has
endeavoured
to
convey.
They give
it
a
local
colouring,
o
to
speak,
which
the
ordinary ype of Zeus enthroned, amiliarto us all (as
e.g.
on
the coins
of
Alexander
the
Great),
does
not
possess.
In
the
first
place
the
god
rests
his
right
hand
upon
a
natural-knotted
taff,
ent
nto
a crook
t
the
top,
nstead
of
upon
the
ordinary
oyal
sceptre.
This
peculiarity
e
shares,
s
the Baron
de
Hirsch
has
pointed
ut,
with
the
Arcadian
Zeus/
who
was
worshipped
n
the
summit
of
Mount
Lycaeum
but
on
the
coin
of
Aetna
the staff
s
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8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
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172
NUMISMATIC
HRONICLE.
extremely
hin
and
slight,
nd exhibits
he
zigzag appear-
ance
which is
characteristic f the
growth
of
a
stick
of
vine-wood,
which
take it
to be.
It can
hardly
e
doubted
hat the
Zeus here
represented
is
the
great
god
of
Mount
Aetna,
he
volcanic
oil
ofwhich
was
especially
favourable o the cultivation
of the
vine,
whenceperhaps hevine-staff n which thegod restshis
arm.
See
Strab.
p.
269.
Ka0a7rep
vv
o
7rr¡yavov
t¡ £v'£vrj
(T7roSa>
p£€rat,
olovtov
X€lv
l
oÍK€¿(ú/m
rpòs
tjv
pLirtkov
ikoç
T
jv
Aitvollolv
tttoSov.
Over
the
whole
Aetna
region
Zeus was
worshipped
under the
name
of
Zc
JsMrvcãos
aXV
a>
Kpóvov
rat,
s
Atrvav
17
ov
vcfióeo-o-av
KaroyK€cj)dka
Tv
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8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
5/9
TWO
UNIQUE
OINSOF
AETNAAND
ZANCLE. 173
plash
to
the
deep plain
of the
sea;
and
further e invokes
the
god
who
haunts the
mountain and
prays
that
the
newly
founded
ity
may
find
favour
n
his
sight
€trj
ev,
Iv
€irj
PavSaveiv,
OS
TOVT
¿7T€LS
pOS
€VKap7TOlO
ai
aç
jH£Tü)7T0V,
OV
xìv
lTOiVV
JLIO.
KÀCtvÒçLKKTTYJpKv8dV€VToXVyctrora. k r.
It is
noteworthy
hat across the
throne
of
the
god
is
spread
the skin
of
a
lion,
or
of
some
other
mountain-bred
beast of
prey,
but
the
most characteristic
ymbol
n
the
reverse
s
undoubtedly
he
Pine
tree,
eXárrç
r
tt€vkvj9
ith
which,
according
to
Diodorus
(XIV.
42)
the
slopes
of
Aetna were
once
richly
clad :
rty AItvtjv
pos
yifiov
ar
ÍK€¿VOVS
O-Ùç
POVÔVÇ
ToA.VTcXo0Ç
XaTTJÇ
€
al
TT€VKY]S.
o alsO
Pind. Pytli. . 53 : Aî/n/açv u.€A.a/x
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8/20/2019 Remarks on two unique coins of Aetna and Zancle / [Barclay V. Head]
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174
NUMISMATIC
HRONICLE.
scarabei,
KavOapoi
for
which
Mount
Aetna
was celebrated.
See
Aristophanes,
ac.
73
:
€L(TY¡yay
lrvalov
.lyi(TTOV
avOapov
and
the Scholiast's
remarks
n
this
passage
/¿cyaXoi
iyovTai
ivai
/cara
tjv
Altvtjv
avOapoL.
iapTvpovcriv
Sé
ol
ejrv)(wpioi>irí^apfjios
v
Hpa/cAci
o)
C7rt
ov
uxTrrjpaITiry-fiapitûvo^ayor/ccjvKuvOapoìvwv ¿€i£óvcovvç /xutltjvAltvtjv
€)(€iv.9}
póirov
é
riva
Kal
Aîcr^vXoç
Vt^copioç*
eyei
è
èv
,i(Tv(o
TreTpOKvXicrTrj
Atrrâióç
oti
KavOapoç
ta
iróvov.
2ookÀ^ç
AatSáXw
<
XX* v
jlev
rj
KavOapos
Ûv
AtTvatW
rávTü)S.
eyci
Sc
TrávTtoç
t/cá^a)v
ts
xiyav
nXáro)V
v'Eoprats
ύ
/xcya
xcVrot
7rávv
ř)v
ltvtjv
poç
ivai
frao-i
CKfiaipov,
0cv
p£t(j0ai,
àç
/cav-
BapLSas
cjv
vOpomw
ctlv
Xóyoç
i/Scv
XaTTOvç.
With
regard
to the
time of issue
it
may
be
remarked
that
Catana
bore
the name
of
Aetna
for
bout
fifteen
ears,
but in b.c.
461,
its
old
inhabitants
roveout the Aetnaeans
and thecityoncemorerecoveredts original ppellation.
In
point
of
style
the
tetradrachm f Aetna
exhibits
some technical
peculiarities
whichare
noticeable
n
certain
other
Sicilian
coins struck
apparently
before
b.c. 476.
Thus the
hard stiff olds n
which the
Ijkxtlov
f
Zeus falls
about
his
body
bear
a close resemblance o
the
folds f the
chiton
of Nike
on
a tetradrachm
f
Catana
(B.
M.
Guide,
Pl. IX.
25),
and the
somewhat
awkward
way
in
which
the
eagle
with closed
wings
sits
above,
but
not
actually
touching
the
top
of the
pine-tree,
may
be
compared
with
the
equally
unusual
manner of
depicting
bird
(in
this
case
an
aquatic
bird)
with
closed
wings,
standing,
without
any
support,
nkthe
ield
f the
obverse
of
the
same coin of
Catana,
above
the back
of the bull.
In
fabric,
s
well
as
in
style,
hese
two
coins
resemble
one
another
o
closely cf.
the
circular
ncuse,
the
border
of
dots,
&c.)
that
one
might
lmost
be
justified
n
ascribing
themto thesameworkshop fthesameengraver.
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7/9
TWO
UNIQUE
COINS
OF
AETNA
ANI)
ZANCLE.
175
Another
coin which
n
style
s
also
extremely
ike our
Aetnaean
tetradrachm s the
unique
piece
of
Himera
in
the
cabinet of
the
Prince of
Waldeck
(Imhoof.
Mon
Gr
PL B.
3).
On
this
coin also
the
Nymph
Himera wears
an
ample
peplos,
the
foldsof
which
are
indicated
n
pre-
cisely
the same stiff nd
linear manner which
is so
remarkable n the coin of Aetna. All threepieces are
certainly
lmost
ontemporary,
nd
the date of
the Aetna
coin
b.c.
476
161
may
serve
to
fix
the
date,
within
a
little,
f
the
other wo.
Let us now
turn
to
the
tetradrachm
f
Zancle
of
Attic
weight
(Pl.
IX.
2).
This
coin
s not
only
of
the
highest
metrological
nterest,
s the Baron de Hirsch and
Dr.
Imhoof-Blumer
ave
already
pointed
out,
but
it is
a docu-
ment
of considerable
rchaeological mportance
for
the
history fGreekart.
From the
very
advanced
style
of the
figure
of
the
striding
Zeus
on
the obverse should have been
inclined
to attribute
t
to
about
the middle
of
the
fifth
entury,
but
according
to our historical data
the
name
of Zancle
was
no
longer
n use after the death
of Anaxilas in
b.c.
476,
it
having
been
superseded
by
that
of Messana either
at the time
of the first
occupation
f Zancle
by
a
mixed
body
of Samians
and
Messanians,
b.c.
494
(Herod. Y1L,
164),
or on
the
expulsion
of
the
Samians
by
Anaxilas
some
time
before
his
death
in
b.c. 476
(Thuc.
VI.
5),
Tovs
e
S
afiLovs
AvatjiXas
Prjyivuv
vpavvos
v ttoWw
arcpov
€Kßa'ü>v
al
TYjv
róXiv
vròs
codd.
vrois)£v/Lfx¿KT(úv
vòpwruìv
ouciaas
S¡Í€(r(TYivr¡v
irò
r¡
avrov
ò
âp'aíov
rarpíSos
vTUìvó
iacre.
Unless,
therefore,
e
suppose
that
the name
Zancle
was
not
entirely
discarded
cf.
Paus.
VI.
i .
10 where
men-
tion s
made of
the
ancient
Zanclaeans
t
a
later
period
s
distinct rom heMessanians),we are compelled
o
fix
the
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176
NUMISMATICHRONICLE.
date of this most
emarkable
oin before
b.c.
476.
It
may,
however,
e
accepted
s
good
evidence
that
the name
of
Zancle was
not
abandoned
s
early
as
b.c. 494. Even
for
a
work
dating
from
76 the
freedom
f
style
nd
mastery
of
anatomical
detail
exhibited
n
the attitude f the
figure
of
Zeus
are,
so
far
as I
know,
unexampled
on
any
other
ancientmonument.
To
the accurate
descriptions
f
the other oins
given
by
the
Baron de
Hirsch I
have
nothing
to
add,
except
that
the
coin of Gela
(Pl.
IX.,
5)
is not from he same
die as
the
specimen
n
the British
Museum
(B.
M.
Guide
Pl.
XYI.
24).
My
friend,
Dr.
Hermann
Weber,
has,
however,
ately
acquired
a
specimen
of
this rare
piece,
unfortunately
n
poor
preservation,
hich
s
from he same
dies as the
remarkably
ine
pecimen hotographed
n
the
Baron de Hirsch'splate.
As it
is
always
atisfactory
o be able to trace the
prove-
nance of coins as
important
s thoseof
Aetna
and
Zancle,
I
may
mention hat
I
have
been
informed hat for
many
years past
these two
coins have
lain
in
the
cabinetof a
well-known
rivate
collector
t
Catania,
where
hey
were
seen
some
ten
or
fifteen
ears ago by
Prof.
Salinas of
Palermo,
and
by
Dr.
Imhoof-Blumer. On the
death of
their
originalpossessor hey
were offered or
ale,
with the
restofthe
collection,
y Signor Verga,
one of the heirs.
The
BritishMuseum
not
being
n a
position
o
give
the
large
sum
demanded
for
he
collection,
which,moreover,
consisted
for
the most
part
of
ordinary
Sicilian coins
already represented
n the
national
coin
cabinet,
the
whole
was
acquired
by
the
late
Signor
Castellani,
from
whom
he
rarest
specimens
have
passed
into the
cabinet
of
the
Baron de
Hirsch.
Barclay Y. Head.
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COINS
OF
SICILY
Num
Chrûn Ser
II
Vd MPl K
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