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5 Units Head of Turms, without legend
| Issuer | Peithesa |
|---|---|
| Year | 301 BC - 250 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 15 mm |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Turms (the Etruscan equivalent of Hermes/Mercury) facing right, depicted in a vigorous archaic-influenced style typical of Oscan bronze coinage. The head is rendered with short, curly hair and strong facial features; traces of a petasos or winged cap are suggested at the crown. The field is plain, with no legend present, consistent with the anonymous issues of this series. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, characteristic of hammered Italic bronze production of the early third century BC. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A standing owl faces front, rendered in a bold and stylized manner with large forward-facing eyes, spread talons gripping a ground line, and folded wings clearly delineated. The bird occupies the central field of the flan, with no surrounding legend. The reverse type closely echoes Athenian iconographic traditions while remaining within a distinctly Italic artistic idiom. The flan surface shows a dark green patina with areas of earthen encrustation consistent with prolonged burial. |
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| Additional information |
Peithesa was a minor Bruttian community whose independent coinage output was extremely limited, making any attribution to this issuer something of a numismatic puzzle — the city itself is known almost entirely through its coins rather than through historical sources. The absence of a legend on this type is not an oversight; it reflects either a pre-literate civic tradition or a deliberate choice by a community that lacked the administrative infrastructure to standardize epigraphic output.
The Bruttian region was under sustained military and political pressure throughout this period, squeezed between Syracusan ambitions, Oscan tribal politics, and the encroachment of Rome following the Pyrrhic War.