Silver 20 Asses Gorgoneion series II: star

Populonia, on the Etruscan coast of what is now Tuscany, was the only Etruscan city known to have struck its own coinage — every other Etruscan center relied on imported or mercenary-minted issues. The 20 as denomination places this piece within a weight standard derived from the Campanian bronze as, adapted by Populonian moneyers into a silver series of unusual local character. The star behind the gorgoneion differentiates this as Vecchi's second series, a die-variety distinction that has driven collector classification of Populonian silver since Sambon's early twentieth-century catalogue work.