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Nomos
| Issuer | Metapontion |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 340 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Nomos (2) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A large, detailed ear of barley rendered in high relief, occupying nearly the full field of the coin, with deeply incised grain rows along the central stalk and individual kernels clearly delineated. The ethnic legend META appears to the left of the stalk and the magistrate's inscription HP to the right, the latter accompanied by a murex shell symbol on certain die varieties. The composition is bold and emblematic, reflecting the agricultural prosperity of Metapontion in Lucania. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Metapontion's wealth in the fourth century BC was agricultural in the most literal sense — the city's coinage was underwritten by grain surpluses from the exceptionally fertile Tarentine Gulf hinterland, and the mint maintained consistent output throughout a period when many neighboring Italiote mints were contracting under Lucanian pressure from the interior. The city would eventually fall to those same Lucanian tribes, making issues from this window among the last struck under fully autonomous civic authority.
The Noe sequence places this piece within a closely die-linked group, and the Lloyd and Jameson concordances suggest a relatively tight production horizon despite the broad conventional dating.