Stater (Front)

Obverse: A nude, helmeted horseman astride rearing horse holding shield and spears; he lances with another spear downwards to right. Inscribed below horse: ΣΑ [SA]. Reverse: Taras, helmeted, seated on a dolphin facing left, holds a trident over his right shoulder, and in his left he holds a round shield depicting a hippocamp; murex shell below. Inscribed: vertically, above the tail of the dolphin TΑΡΑΣ [TARAS], and in the field in front of Taras, ΦΙ [Phi]. Taras is both the name of the city that minted this coin and of a legendary figure who was saved from drowning by a dolphin sent by his father, the god Poseidon.