Contorniati eccellenti

[apollonia]

NAC AUCTION 120, LOT 774, 6 - 7 Oct 2020

Starting price: 12.000 CHF

Estimate: 15.000 CHF

Lot 774. Antinous, favourite of Hadrian

Oktassarion or quinarius, Corinthia Achae after 130, Æ 37.57 g. BE – TOVPIOC Bare head r. Rev. TOIC [AP] KACI Pacing horse r., with l. foreleg raised. Blum –. RPC 326.1 (this coin)
 

Of the highest rarity, apparently the finest of only two specimens known. A portrait of great
beauty and a wonderful untouched light green patina. Very fine / about very fine

Ex NAC sale 54, 2010, 435.

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Triton XIII, lot 318, 4 January 2010. Estimate $10000. Sold For $11000

Antinoüs. Died AD 130. Æ Medallion (40mm, 46.55 g, 12h). Smyrna in Ionia mint. M. Antonius Polemon, strategus. ANTINOOC HPΩC, bare head right within pelleted border / ΠOΛEMΩN ANEΘ HKE CMVPNAIOC, prow of quinquereme right within pelleted border. Klose Type XLVI, Gruppe d, 38(V7/R33 - this coin; reverse only illustrated); Blum 3; SNG München -; SNG von Aulock -; SNG Copenhagen -; BMC -. Good VF, red and brown patina, a few cleaning marks.
From the J. Olphin Collection. Ex David A. Dowdy Collection (Triton VIII, 11 January 2005), lot 724; Sternberg 11 (20 November 1981), lot 283.

Per la descrizione https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=153100#

[apollonia]

Riporto la descrizione da  https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=153100#

One of the most remarkable cults of the ancient world was that which grew up around the youth Antinoüs, a boy from Claudiopolis in Bithynia who attracted the attention of the emperor Hadrian. Hadrian had little love for his wife Sabina, and chose instead to shower favors on the handsome youth, whom he apparently chanced upon during a visit to Bithynia. During the emperor’s tour of Egypt in October 130 AD, Antinoüs fell into the Nile and drowned, an event surrounded by dark suspicions whispering of suicide or ritual murder. The distraught Hadrian had his companion immediately deified, and the worship of Antinoüs became an important facet of the imperial cult. A cult center was established at the new city of Antinoöpolis in Egypt, and other temples were founded in Bithynia and at Mantineia in Arcadia. At these cities and elsewhere in the east a commemorative coinage was struck in his name, marked by unique combinations of legends, portraiture and reverse types. Antinoüs was a god (θεος) as well as a hero (ηρως) - the last possibly with an additional sly reference to sexual love (ερως). Because it was the land of his birth, Bithynia became the "homeland of the gods" (θεων η παρις) and he the "noble hero" (αγαθος ηρως), or "hero before the gate" (ηρως πρoπυλαιος), an intercessor with the gods for mortal men. His divinity is equated to Dionysos (ιακχος) and he appears in the guise of numerous gods: Hermes-Thoth in Egypt, Apollo, Poseidon, Dionysos and river gods (somewhat ironic considering his cause of death). Thousands of his busts in marble and bronze (often in heroic form) must have been distributed around the empire, and temples in his honor attracted numerous worshippers. His coins, almost invariably found heavily worn, may not have circulated as such, but were preserved as "touch pieces" by those who sought his intervention, and may have been struck into the 3rd century. Coins and medallions transformed into "souvenirs"- mirrors, pendants and the like - also attest to the popularity of the cult. Contorniates were certainly struck in his name in the 4th century. Textual evidence suggests that, at least in Egypt, his cult survived into the 4th century and was noted by the early Church fathers."...and such is the new god Antinoüs, that was the emperor Hadrian’s minion and slave of his unlawful pleasure; a wraith, worshipped in obedience to the emperor’s command and for fear of his vengeance; known and confessed to be a man, and not a good or deserving man neither, but a sordid and loathsome instrument of his master’s lust. This shameless and scandalous boy died in Egypt when the court was there; and forthwith his Imperial Majesty issued out an edict strictly requiring and commanding his loving subjects to acknowledge his departed page a deity and to pay him his quota of divine reverences and honors...” St. Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373 AD).

 

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Leu Numismatik, Auction 5, lot 253, 27.10.2019

Roman Provincial
ARCADIA. Mantinea. Antinoüs, died 130. Medallion (Bronze, 39 mm, 40.82 g, 1 h), Veturios, late 131 or early 132. BЄTOYPIOC Bare-headed, heroic nude three-quarter bust of Antinoüs to left. Rev. TOIC APKACI Horse walking right. BCD 1498 (same dies). Blum -, cf. 7 (smaller denomination). KAIPOΣ, p. 302-303. Pudill p. 34-37. Extremely rare and very probably the finest known. A bold and impressive medallion of the finest style and with an exceptionally beautiful, almost sculptural portrait of Antinoüs. The obverse with the usual die break and the reverse somewhat weakly struck and with smoothed surfaces, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.
Ex Leu 2, 11 May 2018, 171 and previously from a European collection, formed before 2005.
 

Starting price: 12.000 CHF - Estimate: 15.000 CHF - Result: 14.000 CHF

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La coniazione mantineana in nome di Antinoo fu finanziata da un non identificato da altre parti Veturios, il cui nome appare accanto all'immagine dell'eroe sui dritti, mentre i rovesci specificano "gli Arcadiani" come destinatari del beneficio. Pausania ci dice che "Antinoo è nato da Bitinio al di là del fiume Sangarius, e i Bitiniani sono per discendenza Arcadiani di Mantinea" (Paus. 8.9.7).

Questo spiega l'ostentata adorazione dell'eroe da parte di questa polis, che aveva cambiato il suo nome da Antigonea a Mantinea durante la visita di Adriano nel 125 e quindi aveva anche un rapporto personale con l'imperatore in lutto. I Mantineani dedicarono un nuovo tempio ad Antinoo che Pausania vide in prima persona e di cui forse fu il sommo sacerdote Veturios. Non sappiamo nulla di Veturios, che tuttavia potrebbe essere stato un qualsiasi benefattore locale che finanziava un'emissione di monete come forma di euergetismo alla sua città natale.

Le monete mantineane in onore di Antinoo erano, come H.-C. von Mosch e L.-A. Klostermeyer hanno recentemente dimostrato, probabilmente coniate in occasione della visita di Adriano nella regione alla fine del 131 o all'inizio del 132, e i loro conii sono stati quasi certamente realizzati dallo stesso geniale artista "imperiale" che fu responsabile di molti altri medaglioni di Antinoo coniati lungo il percorso dell'imperatore.

Il nostro pezzo non è solo il più grande della serie commemorativa mantineana, che comprendeva cinque "denominazioni" coniate in due gruppi separati con busti rivolti a destra e a sinistra ciascuno, ma è anche molto probabilmente il più noto. La resa eccezionalmente artistica di Antinoo e le dimensioni del medaglione conferiscono al suo ritratto un aspetto scultoreo che è davvero una gioia per gli occhi.

 

Fonte https://www.sixbid.com/en/leu-numismatik/6607/roman-provincial/5478440/an-exceptional-medallion-of-antinos?term=253&orderCol=lot_number&orderDirection=asc&priceFrom&displayMode=large&auctionSessions=&sidebarIsSticky=false

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Numismatik Lanz München, Auction 148.

ROMAN COINS
ROMAN EMPIRE
HADRIAN (AD 117 - 138)
ANTINOOS
Bronze medallion, Bithynion Hadrianae mint, after AD 130. H ΠΑΤΡΙC - ANTINOON (in exergue) ΘΕΟΝ. Bare headed heroic bust right; dotted border. Rv: BEIΘΥΝΙΕ-ΩΝ ΑΔΡΙΑΝΩΝ. Hermes with raised right hand walking left, holding pedum in his left arm, behind him bull advancing left, above head of Hermes star. H.C. Von Mosch, Die Antinoos-Medaillons von Bithynion-Klaudiopolis, SNR 80, 2001, 109-130; J. Nollé, Antinoos - Der neue Gott aus Bithynion Hadriane. Gedanken zu den Antinoosmünzen seiner bithynischen Heimatstadt, in: H. Heftner - K. Tomaschitz (Hrsg.), Ad Fontes! Festschrift für G. Dobesch, Wien 2004, 467-478; obverse one of three recorded specimen, unpublished reverse. 28,42g. Extremely rare. Attractive red-brown patina, very well centred, near extremely fine.

Nell’antichità il medaglione è stato accuratamente segato a metà per separare il dritto e il rovescio. Entrambe le parti sono forate tre volte, il che potrebbe essere servito per fissare i due pezzi su pelle o tessuto alla maniera delle falere. La falera è un disco metallico usato nell'antichità a scopo ornamentale su corazze o bardature di cavalli.

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CNG Mail Bid Sale 63

BITHYNIA, Tium. Antinoüs, favorite of Hadrian. Died 130 AD. Æ 44mm - Medallion (38.64 gm).
Estimate $6000
BITHYNIA, Tium. Antinoüs, favorite of Hadrian. Died 130 AD. Æ 44mm - Medallion (38.64 gm). Bare-headed and draped bust left / Antinoüs, as Dionysos, riding on panther right. Blum pg. 46, 1; Hunterian pg. 251, 1. VF, dark brown patina with some red on the reverse, light smoothing. Rare. ($6000)

 

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CNG 87, 18.05.2011

838. IONIA, Smyrna. Antinoüs. Died AD 130. Æ Medallion (38mm, 46.43 g, 6h). Polemon, magistrate. Bare head left / Bull standing right. Blum 8-11; BMC 339; cf. SNG Copenhagen 1367/1366 (obv./rev.); SNG von Aulock -. VF, brown surfaces with traces of green and blue, smoothed and tooled.
From the HLT Collection.
Estimate $2000 - Sold For $1800

 

One of the most remarkable cults of the ancient world was that which grew up around the youth Antinoüs, a boy from Claudiopolis in Bithynia who attracted the attention of the emperor Hadrian. Hadrian apparently had little love for his wife Sabina, and chose instead to shower favors on the handsome youth, whom he apparently chanced upon during a visit to Bithynia. During the emperor’s tour of Egypt in October AD 130, Antinoüs fell into the Nile and drowned, an event surrounded by dark suspicions whispering of suicide or ritual murder. The distraught Hadrian had his favorite immediately deified, and the worship of Antinoüs became an important facet of the imperial cult.

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Stack's Bowers Galleries, January 2013 N.Y.I.N.C.

ROMAN EMPIRE
BITHYNIA. Bronze Medallion of Tios (24.96 gms).
Blum-46#2. "ANTINOIΩI HPΩI", draped bust of Antinous left; Reverse: "TIANOI." Nude Antinous seated right, on an altar, looking at himself in a mirror. VERY RARE. Excellent portrait, dark patina. Area of thick encrustation on the reverse. VERY FINE.

Starting price: 1.800 USD - Estimate: 3.000 USD - Result: 1.900 USD

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Antinoo/Pantera che afferra un tirso con nastri (Triton VIII, 2005).

IONIA, Smyrna. Antinoüs, favorite of Hadrian. Died 130 AD. Æ 38mm-Medallion (34.85 gm). Marcus Aurelius Polemon, magistrate. [ANTINOOC] HRWC, bare head of Antinoüs left / POLEMWN ANEQHKE CMVPNAIOIC, female panther left, grasping a filleted thyrsos. Blum pg. 41, 14; Klose XLVI 19 (V1/R16); BMC Ionia -; SNG Copenhagen -; SNG von Aulock 2212. VF, variegated brown and green patina, surfaces smoothed. Very rare and unusual. ($5000) From the David A. Dowdy Collection. Ex Schweizerische Kreditanstalt 7 (27-29 April 1987), lot 857.

Sale: Triton VIII, 10 January 2005, Lot: 727. Estimate $5000. Sold For $4750.

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Questo medaglione ha subito una notevole trasformazione nell'antichità. In realtà è costituito da due medaglioni separati. Uno, che reca il rovescio, è stato accuratamente scavato con un tornio, poi vi è stata incastonata una lastra d'argento lucidissima. Un'altra moneta ha il dritto rasato via, ed è stata inserita nell'incavo, formando una piccola scatola a specchio. Questa trasformazione passò inosservata fino al 1966, quando la moneta fu pulita e vista separarsi in due metà. Il dritto è notevolmente più piccolo dell'apertura sul rovescio e deve aver avuto una flangia separata per tenerlo in posizione. Una simile modificazione di un medaglione di Antinoüs si trova in un altro esemplare d'asta, Leu 30 (28 aprile 1982), lotto 369, dove le monete di Arcadia e Claudiopoli in Bitinia sono state trasformate in uno specchio a cassetta. Piccoli specchi in bronzo a cassa o a scatola si incontrano spesso a partire dal III secolo, con gli interni stagnati o argentati. Questi due esempi possono essere semplicemente degli specchietti per la cosmesi, ma l'esistenza di due medaglioni di Antinoo così modificati porta a ipotizzare che questi possano aver avuto un qualche ruolo nella pratica del culto.

Tradotto da https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=57648

apollonia

[apollonia]

Medaglione di Corinto che raffigura sul rovescio Antinoo in trono nelle vesti di Poseidone, con in mano una patera e un tridente e due delfini ai suoi piedi (Triton VII).

CORINTHIA, Corinth. Antinoüs, favorite of Hadrian. Died 130 AD. Æ Medallion 40mm (37.25 gm). Hostilius Marcellus, priest of the cult of Antinoüs. [OC]TILIOC MARKELLOC O IEP[OC TOV ANTINOOV], bare-headed and draped bust right / KORINQIOIC ANE[Q]HK[E], Antinous enthroned left, in the guise of Poseidon, holding patera and trident; two dolphins at his feet. Blum - (same obverse die as pl. I, 15); Krause 2 (this coin); BMC Corinth -; SNG Copenhagen -. Fine, tan patina, several pits filled in on reverse. Rare and unpublished. ($2500)
Ex BCD Collection (Lanz 105, 26 November 2001), lot 648; Münzen und Medaillen 52 (19-20 June 1975), lot 634; Münzen und Medaillen 13 (17-19 June 1954), lot 872.

Sale: Triton VII, 12 January 2004, Lot: 720. Estimate $2500. Sold For $3250.