
Gold Drachm with Poseidon and Thetis, Bruttium, The Brettii, Time of the Second Punic War c. 221-201 BC
Bearded head of Poseidon left, wearing taenia, trident behind; dolphin below. On the reverse, ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ, hippocamp right on which Amphitrite is seated left, holding Eros in extended right hand, who stands left drawing a bow; star to right, tiny Γ (engraver’s signature) at feet of Eros.
Artistically, this coin is one of the loveliest of all Greek coinage. Inspired by the Pyrrhic silver prototype depicting the sea-nymph Thetis on a hippocamp as she contemplates the shield of her son Achilles, this Bruttian creation pairs Poseidon on the obverse with his consort Amphitrite and substitutes an Eros for the shield. In early literature this piece was dated to around 282 BC since it copied the main theme of a Pyrrhic type, but later study has placed this issue in the Second Punic War as it shares the engraver’s mark Γ with certain Carthaginian silver issues.
Published on February 01, 2014 11:48