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Hemilitra
| Issuer | Syracuse |
|---|---|
| Year | 466 BC - 405 BC |
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| Composition | Silver |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Head of Arethusa facing right, wearing a decorated sphendone or hair-binding adorned with a beaded or pleated band, rendered in archaic to early classical style. The hair falls in neat striated locks along the neck. The facial features are executed with fine detail characteristic of Syracusan coinage of the fifth century BC. No legend or inscription appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Mintage | ND (466 BC - 405 BC) |
| Additional information |
Syracuse struck silver fractions throughout the fifth century to facilitate small transactions in a port economy where bronze coinage had not yet filled that role. The hemilitra — one-twelfth of a litra — occupied the lowest practical denomination in silver, and surviving examples are frequently found in hoards alongside larger denominations rather than showing the heavy abrasion one would expect from daily market use.
Boehringer 636 falls within the period bracketed by the expulsion of the Syracusan tyrants in 466 and the rise of Dionysius I, decades of democratic governance that produced some of the finest engraving in the ancient world.