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!
Nomos
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 415 BC - 405 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Nomos (2) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Nude ephebic horseman seated on a horse standing to right, raising his right hand to place a wreath upon the animal's head while holding the bridle reins in his left hand. A kerykeion (caduceus) appears in the right field. The monogram ΛΑ is inscribed in the exergue, likely denoting a magistrate's abbreviation. The composition reflects the Tarentine tradition of equestrian imagery celebrating the city's aristocratic and athletic culture. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ΛΑ |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Tarentum — modern Taranto — was founded around 706 BC as the only Spartan colony in Magna Graecia, planted by a group of Partheniai whose disputed status at home made resettlement politically convenient for Sparta. By the late fifth century the city had grown into the dominant commercial power on the heel of Italy, and its coinage reflects that confidence. This particular emission falls within a decade of intense pressure from neighboring Italic tribes, when the Messapians were raiding Tarentine territory with enough frequency to demand serious military expenditure.
The nomos was Tarentum's workhorse denomination for external trade, struck to a standard close to the Attic didrachm.