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!
Hemilitron - Pyrrhus of Epirus
| Issuer | Syracuse |
|---|---|
| Year | 278 BC - 276 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Litra |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A single upright grain ear occupies the central field, flanked on either side by the Greek royal inscription ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ to the left and ΠΥΡΡΟΥ to the right, the full legend reading 'of King Pyrrhus.' The entire device is enclosed within a wreath composed of oak branches with acorns, tied at the base, rendered in bold relief characteristic of Sicilian bronze coinage of this period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Syracuse |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Pyrrhus of Epirus occupied Syracuse — and controlled its mint — for just two years, invited by the Syracusans in 278 BC to drive out the Carthaginians pressing from the west. His Italian campaign was already underway when he arrived, and the coins struck under his authority reflect the administrative reality of a general running a war on two fronts simultaneously. He abandoned Sicily in 276 BC, reportedly remarking that he was leaving "a fine field for the Carthaginians and Romans to fight in."