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Hexas
| Issuer | Messana |
|---|---|
| Year | 480 BC - 462 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Head of a hare facing right, rendered in low relief with characteristic long ears depicted upright and folded above the crown; the animal's facial features and fur texture are suggested by fine die-engraving consistent with early Sicilian miniature coinage. The type is contained within a border of raised dots forming a beaded inner circle. The composition is well-centred despite the small module, reflecting the accomplished craftsmanship of the Messanan mint in the early fifth century BC. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Messana's coinage of this period reflects the city's turbulent politics following the expulsion of the Samian mercenaries and the refoundation of the polis under Anaxilas of Rhegion, who controlled the Strait of Messina and leveraged that chokepoint aggressively against Carthaginian and Greek rivals alike. The hexas, worth one-twelfth of a litra, circulated at the extreme low end of the bronze-equivalent silver denomination system developed in Sicily — a system peculiar to the island and largely without parallel in the Aegean Greek world.
At 0.07 g, individual dies wore rapidly and survival is poor. The SNG ANS 325 variety designation flags meaningful die divergence within the type.