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Hemilitron
| Issuer | Lipara |
|---|---|
| Year | 412 BC - 408 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Six spokes radiating from a central cluster of six pellets arranged in two rows of three, forming a wheel or star pattern that fills the coin's field. The Greek ethnic legend ΛΙΠΑΡΑΙΟΝ is distributed between the spokes around the central device, with individual letters occupying the spaces between each ray. The pellets serve as the denomination mark for the hemilitron, equivalent to six units on the Sicilian bronze standard. The overall composition is bold and symmetrical, rendered in the characteristic graphic style of Liparean bronze coinage of the early fourth century BC. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Lipara — the largest of the Aeolian Islands off Sicily's northern coast — was a Cnidian colony that maintained an unusual degree of independence during a period when Syracuse dominated much of Sicilian coinage. This hemilitron dates to the years immediately surrounding Athens' catastrophic Sicilian Expedition, a defeat so complete that it effectively ended Athenian imperial ambitions in the western Mediterranean. Lipara itself had strategic value as a naval waystation and was periodically contested, yet continued striking its own bronze through the disruption.