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Research Coins: Electronic Auction

 

Hercules Battling Centaur

241, Lot: 239. Estimate $1000.
Sold for $700. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

Anonymous. Circa 217-215 BC. Æ Triens (36mm, 53.42 g, 4h). Rome mint. Head of Bellona(?) right, wearing partial helmet consisting of visor and horsehair crest, hair tied in three braids; behind head, upright spear or sword; four pellets (mark of value) behind / Hercules fighting centaur, grasping its head and preparing to strike with club; four pellets (mark of value) to right. Crawford 39/1; Sydenham 93. VF, green patina, three chisel marks.


The female head on the obverse has never been satisfactorily explained. Grueber in BMC described the head as that of Juno, an attribution followed by most later scholars, while Crawford simply leaves it as "female head wearing diadem". Neither attribution seems to fit the evidence. Her headgear is not a diadem, nor a typical stephane associated with Juno, but rather a peculiar form of helmet, consisting of visor and horsehair crest. The object that runs behind her head is only mentioned by Sydenham, who calls it a scepter, but it may be a spear or a sword. The sword is an attribute not seen with Minerva at this time, but is unique to Bellona.