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Stater
| Issuer | Siris |
|---|---|
| Year | 520 BC |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | A nude, ithyphallic satyr strides to the left, grasping his tail with his raised right hand while extending his left arm in a beckoning gesture toward a nymph standing before him. The nymph, draped in long robes, advances to the left, her left hand raised in greeting and her right hand extended holding a wreath. Between the two figures, a large central pellet occupies the field. The scene is rendered in the early South Italian archaic style, with lively figural composition characteristic of Siris coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Mint | Siris |
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| Additional information |
Siris was a Greek colony on the Tarentine Gulf destroyed by a coalition of neighboring cities — Metapontum, Sybaris, and Kroton — around 530 BC, making any coinage attributed to it a matter of genuine scholarly dispute. If the dating holds, these staters were struck by a city already in its death throes or possibly by its successor settlement. The attribution to Siris rather than early Pyxous or a related Lucanian foundation remains contested among specialists.
The Boston MFA and ANS examples anchor the type's authenticity, but the survival rate is exceptionally low.