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| Issuer | Mesma (Bruttium) |
|---|---|
| Year | 340 BC - 330 BC |
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| Currency | Corinthian drachm |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in the late Classical Greek style with finely articulated curling hair bound by a laurel wreath. The youthful, idealized features display characteristic smooth modelling of the cheek and neck. The partial legend ΜΕΣΜΑΙΩΝ is inscribed in Greek characters in the right field. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Mesma was a Locrian colony on the Tyrrhenian coast of Bruttium, founded in the late fifth century BC, and its autonomous bronze coinage was produced during a period of intensifying pressure from the Brettian league — the indigenous Italic confederation that was steadily absorbing Greek settlements throughout the region. By the early third century, Mesma had effectively disappeared as an independent polis, absorbed into the Brettian sphere. That political fragility makes its coinage historically brief, and the weight of references this type accumulates across major collections reflects scholarly interest disproportionate to its issuing city's size.