Catalog
Æ 30
| Issuer | Alaisa Archonidea |
|---|---|
| Year | 344 BC - 338 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A tall upright torch depicted centrally in the field, flanked on either side by a single grain ear inclining outward, evoking the agricultural fertility of Sicily. The composition is symmetrical and boldly rendered in low to medium relief. The Greek legend ΣYMMAXIKON appears in the field, identifying this issue as a coinage of the Syracusan military alliance. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, consistent with hand-struck provincial bronze production of the period. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Alaisa Archonidea — the Hellenized Sicel settlement on Sicily's northern coast — struck bronze coinage during a narrow window in the mid-fourth century BC, almost certainly enabled by the city's elevated status under Dionysius II and subsequently Timoleon of Corinth, whose military reorganization of Sicily reshaped which communities had the political standing to mint. This issue falls squarely within that turbulent interval between Carthaginian pressure from the west and the successive Greek dynasts fighting over Syracuse.
The fabric on this series is notably heavy for a civic Sicel bronze, which has led some to argue production was intended partly for mercenary pay rather than local commerce.