Greek Stater, Tarentum

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Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Be…
Greek Stater, Tarentum
Image courtesy of the Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art at Hamilton College. Photo by John Bentham.
Artist/Maker
Date272 B.C.E. - 235 B.C.E.
MediumSilver
DimensionsDiameter: 11/16 in. (1.8 cm)
Credit LineTransfer from Hamilton College Archives, Burke Library. Gift of Nathaniel Emmons Paine, Class of 1874
Object numberS2018.1.12
On view
DescriptionTarentum, or Taras, now modern day Taranto, Italy, was founded as a Greek colony in the 8th century B.C.E. in the region of southern Italy known as Magna Graecia. On its obverse, this coin depicts the symbol of Tarentum; a man seated on a dolphin, holding a kantharos in his right hand and a cornucopia in his left. Sometimes this man is identified as Phalanthos, the divine leader of the Spartan Partheniae and legendary founder of Tarentum. He is also sometimes identified as Taras, the son of Poseidon and another legenday founder of Tarentum. Coins from Tarentum are often referred to as “dolphin rider” coins due to this iconography. On its reverse, this coin depicts a man riding a horse and holding a shield. This coin is a part of the Paine Coin Collection. This teaching collection of 32 Greek and Roman coins was formed by John Alsop Paine (1840 – 1912), Class of 1859, who was an archaeologist with the Palestine Exploration Society and a Curator in the Department of Casts at the Metropolitan Museum of Art from 1889 until 1906. The collection came to the college through John Alsop Paine’s grandson, Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853 – 1948), Class of 1874.
Collections

Additional Details

Exhibition History 2024-2025
Clinton, NY. The Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art, Hamilton College. "Menagerie: Animals in Art from the Wellin Museum," September 7, 2024 –June 8, 2025 (no cat.).
Provenance 2018: Hamilton College (Ruth and Elmer Wellin Museum of Art), by transfer from College Archives, Burke Library;
?: Hamilton College, by gift of Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853-1948);
?: Nathaniel Emmons Paine (1853-1948), presumably by inheritance or gift from his grandfather, John Alsop Paine (1840-1912);
?: John Alsop Paine (1840-1912), by excavation.
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