I wonder if anyone has ever questioned what the ancient coin is that is only partially pictured on the E-Sylum masthead. Attached are images of both the obverse and reverse. It is an interesting coin for many reasons. The piece is a silver nomos from the city of Tarentum in Calabria, southern Italy. It was most likely minted in the period from 510 to 500 B.C. These pieces are about the size of a U.S. quarter, and weigh about 8 grams. The figure on the obverse is Taras-Phalanthos riding on the back of a dolphin. A scallop shell below the dolphin signifies the ocean. The inscription above reads TARAS, but is written retrograde as was a common custom at that time. On the reverse side, the entire design is repeated but is intaglio.

The coins of Tarentum were part of a unique series of intaglio coins that were made in Magna Graecia during the period from about 550 to 480 B.C. They are exceptional for their original designs, distinctive borders, the use of writing to indicate the city name, and in that they were the first to use full designs on both sides. Also original was the technique of engraving one side intaglio and the other in relief. This was probably done to indicate a more or less uniform system of coinage that extended throughout southern Italy at that time. Legend has it that the Tarentum colonists were instructed by the Oracle of Delphi where to settle, and that Phalanthos made the trip from Greece to Italy with the aid of a friendly dolphin.