Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Brettii |
|---|---|
| Year | 216 BC - 214 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Helmeted head of Athena facing right, wearing a Corinthian helmet adorned with a decorative crest. The goddess's hair flows in loose waves beneath the helmet's rim, with fine engraving capturing the naturalistic rendering characteristic of South Italian coinage of the late 3rd century BC. The facial features are modeled in high relief with a strong profile, displaying the accomplished die-cutting associated with Bruttian mint production. The field is otherwise plain. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Brettii — the Bruttian confederation of Oscan-speaking peoples in the toe of Italy — began striking their own silver coinage only after breaking from Roman authority and aligning with Hannibal following Cannae in 216 BC. This hemidrachm belongs to that first, brief window of autonomous Bruttian silver production, issued while Hannibal's forces were effectively controlling southern Italy and Roman reach had temporarily collapsed.
The series is scarce precisely because that window closed fast. Roman reconquest of Bruttium was largely complete by the early second century, and the confederation was effectively dissolved as a political entity by 196 BC.