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Hemilitron
| Issuer | Katane (Sicily) |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 413 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Reverse lettering | Κ Α |
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| Mint | Catana, Sicily, modern-day Catania, Italy |
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| Additional information |
Katane's silver hemilitron belongs to a period when the city was prospering under Sikel and then Syracusan influence, squeezed between the competing powers of fifth-century Sicily. The fractional silver coinage of this region served real commercial needs in a market economy where small transactions demanded small denominations — a bronze infrastructure didn't yet exist to handle them.
The city was forcibly depopulated by Dionysius I of Syracuse in 403 BC, its inhabitants sold into slavery and the site repopulated with Campanian mercenaries. Coins struck in the decades before that event represent the last output of an independent civic mint.