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Decadrachm
| Issuer | Akragas (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 409 BC - 406 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 43.31 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Two eagles perched upon a dead hare prostrate on a rocky outcrop, the scene rendered with dramatic naturalistic detail. The farther eagle, wings fully spread, lowers its head toward the prey; the nearer eagle, wings folded, raises its head with open beak as if screeching in triumph. A grasshopper appears in the right field, a recurring emblem in Akragantine coinage. The entire composition conveys the predatory power emblematic of the city's iconographic program, executed with the masterful relief typical of the finest Sicilian engravers of the period. |
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| Mintage | ND (409 BC - 406 BC) |
| Additional information |
The dating of this coin captures one of ancient numismatics' most debated questions — was it a victory issue, a funeral donative, or emergency pay for mercenaries as Carthaginian forces under Hannibal Mago and Himilco besieged and ultimately sacked Akragas in 406 BC? The city was evacuated rather than destroyed outright, its population fleeing to Gela, which means this coin was almost certainly among the last struck before the mint fell silent for decades.
Fewer than twenty authenticated specimens are known across all collections. The Westermark corpus remains the definitive die study.