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Hemilitron
| Issuer | Akragas (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 405 BC - 392 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hemilitron (½) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Countermark applied to a broad bronze flan, depicting the bearded head of Herakles in right profile, crowned with the Nemean lionskin headdress, the scalp knotted at the forehead with the forepaws visible above. The portrait is rendered in a bold, slightly archaic Sicilian style within a shallow incuse oval punch. The field surrounding the countermark is plain and shows the characteristic greenish patina of aged bronze. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | ND (405 BC - 392 BC) |
| Additional information |
Akragas in 405 BC was a city in catastrophe. That year, the Carthaginian general Himilco sacked and burned one of the wealthiest poleis in the Greek world, massacring or enslaving much of its population. The bronze coinage struck across the subsequent decade reflects a diminished city operating under siege and occupation, minting fractions for a local economy that had been violently compressed. The hemilitron — a sixth of the litra — served the kind of small daily transactions that continue even under foreign domination.
The city would not recover its former scale before Timoleon's campaigns reshaped Sicilian Greek power in the 340s. CNS#92 places this type firmly within the post-sack phase.