Catalog
1 Uncia Cantharus series, dot to the left
| Issuer | Uncertain city of Central Italy |
|---|---|
| Year | 301 BC - 201 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | ICC#262, HN Italy#349, Haeberlin#p.148, Thurlow-Ve#259, Syd#82 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A cantharus (two-handled drinking cup) depicted facing, rendered in low relief characteristic of Central Italian cast bronze coinage. The vessel displays two prominent curved handles flanking a rounded body, with no accompanying legend or border. The design occupies the majority of the irregular flan. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Cantharus series unciae belong to a cluster of cast bronze issues whose precise mint attribution has never been resolved — scholars have proposed Cales, Teanum Sidicinum, and several other Campanian or Samnite centers without consensus. The dot placement variants (left, right, above) were likely functional differentiators within a single workshop's output rather than marks of separate issuing authorities, though that too remains disputed.
Central Italy in this century was absorbing the aftershocks of the Samnite Wars, and anonymous or semi-anonymous bronze coinage proliferated partly because civic identity in the region was genuinely unstable.