Æ Campanian mercenaries

Nakone was a small inland Sicilian community whose coinage is exceptionally rare under any circumstances. This bronze issue is tied to the mercenary soldiers — almost certainly of Campanian origin — who garrisoned or controlled the town during the violent aftermath of Agathokles of Syracuse's campaigns, a period when military commanders routinely held minor settlements as personal fiefdoms. The attribution to Campanian mercenaries rests on coin typology and the known movement of these soldiers through western Sicily following the collapse of Carthaginian military pressure around 307–305 BC.