DELPHI RARE RARE RARE -- Pelinna, Thessaly, Greece, c. 306 - 197 B.C.

DELPHI

VERY HOT PSYCHOMETRIC

Bronze AE 18, SNG Cop 191, F, 6.430g, 18.6mm, 0o, Pelinna mint, obverse veiled head of Mantho right; reverse "PELINNAIWN", horseman riding right, spear in right hand.

Daphne and Manto were the daughters of Teiresias, the blind Theban Prophet. He gave birth to Daphne during a period of seven years when he was a woman, and sired Manto after he was a man again.

Daphne and Manto were taken captive when Thebes fell during the generation before Troy.

Manto was sent to Ionia where she married Rhacius, King of Caria, by whom she had Mopsus, said to be the son of Apollo.

Daphne remained a virgin and was sent to Delphi where she became the Sibyl; few other coins have a connection as powerful as this to the Oracle at Delphi.

There were some Apollonians who claimed it was Manto who was sent to Delphi and she changed her name to Daphne. This contradicts the story in which Daphne spurns Apollo's love; on the other hand, Mopsus was the son of Apollo with Manto.

TRULY A ONE-TIME-ONLY ANCIENT ARTIFACT. The coin value is nothing compared to the Delphic Contact value. I do not believe we will see a coin like this again. Once gone, it's gone.

$450.00