Nomos

Tarentum's nomos coinage of this period reflects the city's desperate final decades of independence. After the Pyrrhic War failed to dislodge Roman power, Tarentum formally submitted to Rome in 272 BC — the very year this series begins. The city retained nominal autonomy but was stripped of its fleet and garrisoned by Roman troops, a humiliation that colored every civic institution, including the mint.

Vlasto 863 is among the later issues in his die study, produced as output declined sharply and fabric quality became inconsistent. The HN Italy gap for this piece suggests it fell between Rutter's organizational criteria rather than indicating rarity in any absolute sense.