Drachm

The Brettii — the Bruttian people of Calabria's toe — struck their own silver coinage only after breaking with Rome during the Second Punic War, when Hannibal's victories at Trebia, Trasimene, and Cannae made Roman collapse look imminent. This issue dates to precisely that window of opportunism, minted within months of Cannae in 216 BC. The Brettii supplied Hannibal with troops and materiel, and their coinage was partly a declaration of political independence, partly a practical necessity for paying soldiers.

The heavy museum representation — Hunterian, Fitzwilliam, Copenhagen — reflects nineteenth-century collecting intensity in southern Italian finds rather than any unusual abundance.