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!
Hexas
| Issuer | Mamertinoi |
|---|---|
| Year | 270 BC - 220 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 8.64 g |
| 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 | Laureate head of Ares facing right, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with curling locks of hair visible beneath the wreath. The deity wears a crested Corinthian helmet pushed back upon the head, exposing the youthful, idealized face in profile. A small pellet (mark of value) appears in the left field. The legend ΑΡΕΟΣ is inscribed in Greek characters around the right field, identifying the depicted deity. The flan is irregular and the relief is bold with a well-defined portrait of strong artistic quality. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (270 BC - 220 BC) |
| Additional information |
The Mamertinoi were Oscan mercenaries — originally hired by Agathokles of Syracuse — who seized Messana around 288 BC after his death, massacring the male population and taking their wives and property. Their coinage reflects an awkward attempt at civic legitimacy by a garrison that had essentially become a city-state through atrocity. The hexas, as the smallest fractional bronze in their series, would have handled the lowest-level commercial transactions in a community that remained militarily organized even in peacetime.
Their name itself means "sons of Mars," the Oscan war god Mamers.