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Nomos
| Issuer | Metapontion |
|---|---|
| Year | 540 BC - 510 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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| Obverse description | Facing left, a finely rendered ear of barley with seven pairs of grains displayed in high relief, the rachis and individual kernels sharply articulated in the archaic Greek style. The stalk rises centrally within a plain linear border encircled by a beaded outer rim. To the left of the ear, the abbreviated ethnic legend ΜΕΤΑΠ is inscribed in archaic Greek characters reading downward along the field. The naturalistic rendering of the grain ear served as the principal civic emblem of Metapontion, a Achaean colony celebrated for its agricultural prosperity. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Incuse rendering of a barley ear, presented as a recessed mirror image of the obverse type in accordance with the early South Italian incuse technique pioneered by Achaean colonies. The grain ear appears in intaglio relief within a plain, slightly irregular circular field bordered by a rope-pattern or striated rim. The kernels and rachis are rendered as a latticed or cross-hatched incuse depression, the outer glumes of the ear flanking the central stalk in a broadly splayed composition. No legend or additional device appears on the reverse. The stark contrast between the deeply sunken field and the raised border exemplifies the sophisticated die-cutting tradition of archaic Magna Graecia. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
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