Ancient Gay Sex

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06 Jul 2009 03:01 pm

And the Romans were unfazed enough to put it on a coin:

Spintria; AE 21, c. 22-37 AD, 3.80g. Buttrey, Spintriae, Num. Chron. 1973, Scene 7. Obv: A man with erect penis reclining r. on his front on a couch, supporting his upper body on his l. elbow and looking back l. at another man who is making love to him; this second man holds the first man's thigh with his r. hand, and the first man holds the second man's arm above the elbow with his r. hand; a footstool and drapery are seen under the couch, and additional drapery hangs in l. background. Rx: Numeral XII within circle of dots and laurel wreath. Ex M&M 79, 1994, 639; ex Sternberg 21, 1988, 532. On less well preserved specimens the figure reclining on the couch could be thought to be a woman, but his sexual organ on our coin proves that he is in fact a man. Our obverse is from a different die than the specimen illustrated by Buttrey, pl. 3, 7. According to Buttrey, p. 60, another specimen like ours combining this scene with the number XII on reverse is in the BM. This is one of the few coins in the Spintria series that shows homosexual intercourse. It is a great rarity of historical significance. Some corrosion on the reverse edge, otherwise EF. A remarkable coin.

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