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Hemiobol - Bull ΔΑ
| Issuer | Massalia |
|---|---|
| Year | 130 BC - 121 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A bull butting right in an aggressive, low-charging posture, with head lowered and forelegs thrust forward. The rendering is compact and vigorous, a hallmark of Massalian bronze coinage of this period. Above the bull's back appears the ethnic abbreviation ΜΑΣΣΑ (for Massalia), while the magistrate's mark ΔΑ is placed in the field, likely below or to the right of the animal. |
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| Mint | Massalia (modern Marseille, France) |
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| Additional information |
Massalia — modern Marseille — was a Phocaean Greek colony founded around 600 BC that maintained striking autonomy well into the Roman period. This small bronze was issued during a decade of significant regional upheaval: Rome was actively dismantling the Arverni and Allobriges confederacies to the north, culminating in the creation of Gallia Transalpina around 121 BC. Massalia had actively supported Roman intervention, and the city's mint continued producing its own fractional coinage throughout this turbulent period as a functioning commercial entrepôt.