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Both sides of an irregularly shaped silver gray coin with relief decoration on each side.

Within the circle on the left is a naked man facing right in a struggle with a bull. He is holding a club in his right hand above his head and his left hand is grabbing one of the bull’s horns. His left leg is bend and off the ground. There is a dotted border around the outside edge of the coin. The circle on the right depicts a nude man facing left standing in the center. He has a branch in his left hand and is pouring a vessel from his outstretched right hand onto an altar. A snake is twined around the altar on the left. On the right a leaf and below a bird. Greek characters line the top edge of the coin.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1.1965.683
Title
Didrachm of Selinous
Classification
Coins
Work Type
coin
Date
440 - 420 BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Selinous (Sicily)
Period
Classical period
Culture
Greek
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/188203

Location

Location
Level 3, Room 3400, Ancient Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Art, Ancient Greece in Black and Orange
View this object's location on our interactive map

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Silver
Metal
AR
Technique
Struck
Dimensions
8.73 g
Die Axis
10
Denomination
didrachm

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Acq. Spink, 1929

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Loan from the Trustees of the Arthur Stone Dewing Greek Numismatic Foundation
Object Number
1.1965.683
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Obv.: Herakles, naked, with club, overcoming the Cretan bull r. Dotted border.
Rev.: River god Hypsas, holding laurel branch and patera, pouring libation on altar; around the altar, a snake twines; to r., selinon leaf and heron r.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3400 Greek, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 01/01/2050

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Coins

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu