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Nomos
| Issuer | Metapontion |
|---|---|
| Year | 330 BC - 290 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm (540-200BC) |
| 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 |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A single ear of barley oriented vertically, the city's emblematic type, with a prominent leaf extending to the right. Above the leaf, a sixteen-rayed star occupies the upper field, serving as a magistrate's or control symbol. The ethnic META appears along the stalk, while the magistrate's abbreviation ΛΥ is inscribed below to the left, identifying the issuing official responsible for this emission. The composition is bold and well-centered, consistent with the refined incuse-derived tradition of Metapontine reverse design. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | META ΛΥ |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Metapontion's grain economy was no accident — the city had cultivated some of the most productive agricultural land in Magna Graecia since its foundation in the late seventh century, and that prosperity is precisely why the barley ear became the defining emblem of its coinage for over two centuries. By the late fourth century, when this nomos was struck, the city was navigating increasing pressure from the Oscan-speaking Lucanian tribes pushing down from the interior highlands, a tension that would eventually strangle Metapontion's independence entirely.
The HN Italy 1592 classification places this piece within a well-documented but not abundant series.