CNG 94, Lot: 2005. Estimate $200. Sold for $320. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

ITALY, Bracciano. Paolo Giordano II Orsini. 1615-1656. Æ Medal (28mm, 10.50 g, 12h). By Giovanni Cormano (Johann Jakob Kornmann). Undated, but struck 1635. PAVL • IORD • II • D G • B • DVX • S R I • P, Bareheaded, draped, and armored bust left / VT • VTRVNQVE • TEMPVS • (so that each time), Neptune riding left in half-shell drawn by to dolphins, holding trident and driving two horse from the sea, one of which is already on dry land; in background to right, Minerva, holding spear and shield, standing left; olive tree to right. Middledorf –; Börner 1103. EF, brown patina, traces of underlying red.

The reverse of this medal and the correponding reverse type of Lots 1998 and 1999, above, alludes to two episodes of a version of the Athenian foundation myth, which was depicted on the west pediment of the Parthenon. In the Greek version of this myth, Poseidon and Athena contested who would be Athens’ divine patron. According to one version, Poseidon struck the earth with his trident, causing a spring to appear. The reverse of this medal follows the other tradition, in which his gift was a pair of horses, which meant that Athens could become a great military state. Athena offered the olive tree, which was to become the basis of the city’s great economic empire.