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Onkia
| Issuer | Enna |
|---|---|
| Year | 339 BC - 307 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | CNS#4 |
| Obverse description | Bare head of a youthful male deity, likely Demeter or a local divinity, facing right, rendered in a plain archaic-to-early Hellenistic style. The hair is depicted with short, wavy locks swept back from the forehead. The portrait is modestly detailed with smooth facial features typical of Sicilian bronze coinage of the late 4th century BC. No legend or inscription appears on the obverse field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A grain ear or torch depicted horizontally across the center of the reverse field, flanked on either side by the abbreviated ethnic legend. The design is characteristic of Sicilian civic bronze coinage, referencing the agricultural or religious significance of Enna, a city closely associated with the cult of Demeter. The composition is simple and bold, suited to the small module of the denomination. The field is otherwise plain. |
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| Additional information |
Enna — the Sikel settlement perched on its nearly impregnable plateau in central Sicily — occupied a strange political position throughout the late fourth century, caught between Syracusan expansion under Agathokles and the residual influence of Timoleon's settlement. This onkia, the smallest fractional unit in the Sicilian bronze system representing one-twelfth of an as, reflects the city's need for small-denomination civic coinage during a period when central Sicily was being fought over, resettled, and taxed in rapid succession.