Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ
| Issuer | Massalia (Gaul) |
|---|---|
| Year | 49 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Helmeted head of Athena (assimilated to Minerva) facing left, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet with a prominent bowl and cheekpieces, the design rendered in a schematic late Massalian style. The effigy fills the flan with bold, if somewhat worn, relief. The field is bordered by a dotted grenetis (bead-and-reel) circle following the coin's irregular periphery. No legend is present on this face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (-49) |
| Additional information |
49 BC is not an incidental date. That year, Caesar crossed the Rubicon and marched on Rome, triggering civil war and immediately disrupting trade networks throughout southern Gaul. Massalia, a Greek colonial city that had maintained independence and commercial dominance on the Gaulish coast for centuries, made the catastrophic decision to back Pompey. Caesar besieged the city for six months. It fell in late 49 BC, stripped of its fleet, treasury, and political autonomy — ending Massalia's long run as an independent minting authority.
This small bronze may have been struck before the siege tightened, making it among the final independent issues of a city that had been producing coinage since the sixth century BC.