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Didrachm
| Issuer | Velia |
|---|---|
| Year | 305 BC - 290 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | HN Italy#1312, McClean#1466, SNG ANS 2#1387-1390, Williams#499-514 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Lion standing right in a powerful striding pose, head turned to face the viewer with open jaws and flowing mane rendered in fine detail. A serpent coils beneath the lion's forepaws in the lower left field, serving as a secondary symbol. A monogram composed of Phi and Epsilon (magistrate's symbol) appears in the upper field to the right. The ethnic legend ΥΕΛΗΤΩΝ is inscribed in Greek characters along the exergual line beneath the lion, identifying the coin as an issue of the citizens of Velia. |
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| Mint | Velia |
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| Additional information |
Velia — the Greek colony founded by Phocaean refugees around 540 BC after their flight from Persian-occupied Ionia — maintained a coinage tradition of unusual artistic ambition for a city that never achieved political dominance in Magna Graecia. The didrachms attributed to this period fall within the so-called "phi" group classifications established by R.T. Williams in his foundational 1992 die study, which catalogued the series with a precision rarely applied to southern Italian Greek coinage. Williams' numbering range for this type spans sixteen die combinations, suggesting a sustained but not prolific output.
By 290 BC the city was operating under Roman alliance, a relationship that would gradually suppress independent coinage altogether within a generation.