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Pentonkion
| Issuer | Mamertinoi |
|---|---|
| Year | 210 BC - 200 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 25 mm |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in Hellenistic style with flowing wavy locks descending behind the neck. A lyre is depicted in the left field behind the head, serving as a divine attribute identifying the deity. The portraiture is bold and well-modeled, characteristic of Sicilian bronze coinage of the late third century BC. The flan is broad and slightly irregular, with no legend on the obverse. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Mamertinoi were Oscan-speaking mercenaries — originally from Campania — who seized Messana around 288 BC after their Syracusan employer Agathokles died and they found themselves suddenly unemployed and heavily armed. They held the city for decades, their aggression eventually drawing both Rome and Carthage into Sicily and triggering the First Punic War. By the time this bronze was struck, that war was long over and Messana had become a Roman ally, leaving the Mamertinoi in an awkward semi-autonomous position under Roman protection.
CNS 27 is among the later emissions of the series, produced as the community's independent monetary output was winding down under increasing Roman influence.