Catalog
Æ
| Issuer | Segesta (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 390 BC - 380 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | 22 mm |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A hunting hound depicted standing to the right in profile, its body lean and muscular with tail curving upward over the back, head lowered as if scenting the ground. The figure is rendered in high relief against an unadorned field, reflecting the strong naturalistic tradition of Sicilian bronze coinage of the period. No inscription or exergual line accompanies the type. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Segesta |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Segesta's bronze coinage of this period was struck under extraordinary political pressure. The city had appealed to Carthage for protection against Selinus and Akragas, and the Carthaginian intervention of 409 BC — which ended with the total destruction of Selinus — bought Segesta a generation of relative security. These bronzes belong to that uneasy peace, issued by a city that survived largely through alliance rather than military strength.
Segesta was unusual among Sicilian communities in its non-Greek, Elymian origins, a distinction that shaped its political alignments throughout the classical period.