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Nomos
| Issuer | Metapontion |
|---|---|
| Year | 340 BC - 330 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm (540-200BC) |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing right, rendered in fine high relief with a full, flowing beard and elaborately curled hair adorned with an olive wreath. The modelling of the facial features displays the confident naturalism characteristic of South Italian Greek die-cutting of the mid-fourth century BC. The broad flan accommodates the bold, three-dimensional portrait, with the hair locks spilling freely toward the coin's edge. No legend appears on the obverse field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ΜΕΤΑΠΟΝ ΚΑΛ |
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| Additional information |
Metapontion's grain economy underwrote its coinage for centuries — the city's agricultural wealth, particularly barley, made it one of the more financially stable poleis in Magna Graecia during the fourth century. By the 340s, however, the political situation in southern Italy was deteriorating sharply, with Tarentine influence expanding and local autonomies increasingly contested. This nomos belongs to a period when Metapontion was navigating those pressures while still maintaining an independent and prolific mint.
HN Italy 1558 places this issue within a closely sequenced die study. The SNG ANS pairing with 412–413 helps anchor the chronology.