Greek Coins Calabria, Tarentum

Nomos circa 425-415, AR 24 mm, 8.38 g. Dolphin rider l., extending r. hand and holding shield in l.; below, pecten. Rev. Oecist seated r., holding bird in his extended l. hand and spindle in his r. Vlasto 235. SNG Lloyd 140 (these dies). BMC 78 (these dies). Boston, MFA 59 (these dies). de Luynes 286 (these dies). Gulbenkian 24 (these dies). McClean 558 (these dies). Fischer-Bossert 270a (this coin)
Very rare and in exceptional condition for the issue. Of masterly Classical style and with a superb old cabinet tone, obverse slightly off-centre, otherwise extremely fine

Ex Leu 20, 1978, L. Biaggi, 6 (but illustrated as lot 7); LHS 100, 2007, Roland Maly, 36 and Triton XIII, 2010, 14 sales. From the Henri de Nanteuil collection.
The dolphin rider on the obverse of this coin was a standard type for nomoi and other denominations struck by Tarentum for most of its history as an independent city of Magna Graecia. It represents one of two (or perhaps both?) traditions regarding the foundation of the city. According to one, Taras, a son of Poseidon and the nymph Satyrion, found himself shipwrecked in a storm as he sailed on the Adriatic Sea. However, before Taras was fully consigned to a watery grave, his divine father heard his cries and sent a dolphin to save him from drowning. The animal carried him to southern Italy, where Taras founded Tarentum to celebrate his escape from death.
A second and somewhat more historically based tradition held that Tarentum was founded at the end of the eighth century BC by the Parthenians, a class of disenfranchised children of Spartan women. In order to improve their lot in Sparta, the Parthenians plotted revolution under the leadership of a man named Phalanthos. When the plot was uncovered prematurely, Phalanthos and his followers fled to southern Italy on the advice of the Delphic Oracle. On the way, Phalanthos was shipwrecked at sea, but his life was saved by the timely arrival of a dolphin who carried him to safety. Once in Italy, Phalanthos and the Parthenians settled a site called Satyrion until they discovered a better location, where they founded Tarentum.
Considering that the dolphin rider is frequently shown carrying a trident as one of his attributes on other nomoi (although here he carries an impressive Boeotian shield), it is perhaps somewhat more likely that he should be identified with Taras, the son of Poseidon, than with Phalanthos. However, it is not impossible that both the mythological and historical founders of Tarentum came to be merged in the hero cults at the city.
The heroically nude oikist depicted on the reverse of this nomos is also likely to be Taras serving as a personification of Tarentum. The spindle that he holds in his right hand refers to the important wool industry at the city. Still in the first century AD, Pliny the Elder could declare that Tarentum was known as a producer of some of the finest wool available thanks to a long tradition of selective sheep breeding. The export of this famous wool was a major source of the city’s prosperity. The oikist and dolphin rider both appear on Tarentine coins holding a spindle beginning in the third quarter of the fifth century BC.