Catane came under Roman control during the First Punic War, but the city retained limited autonomous coinage rights into the Second Punic War period — the precise window this issue occupies. When Hannibal swept through Sicily after 215 BC, several Sicilian cities defected to Carthage; Catane notably did not, remaining one of the few communities on the island that held to Rome throughout the conflict.
Catane came under Roman control during the First Punic War, but the city retained limited autonomous coinage rights into the Second Punic War period — the precise window this issue occupies. When Hannibal swept through Sicily after 215 BC, several Sicilian cities defected to Carthage; Catane notably did not, remaining one of the few communities on the island that held to Rome throughout the conflict.