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Stater
| Issuer | Tarentum |
|---|---|
| Year | 333 BC - 330 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | HN Italy#905, McClean#595, SNG France#1773 |
| Obverse description | Diademed and veiled head of Hera facing right, rendered in fine archaic-transitional style. Below the chin, a small dolphin serves as an adjunct symbol. Beneath the neck truncation, the magistrate's signature ΣΙ is inscribed in Greek characters. The portrait is contained within a circular flan with no border legend, the field otherwise plain. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | TAPA ΣΙ |
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| Additional information |
Tarentum's gold coinage was exceptional — the city almost never struck in gold. This issue belongs to a narrow emergency window forced by the arrival of Alexander of Epirus, whom the Tarentines invited in 334 BC to defend them against the Lucanian and Messapian tribes pressing hard on their territory. The cost of maintaining a foreign army demanded coin metal the city didn't habitually use.
Alexander of Epirus was killed at Pandosia around 331–330 BC, which almost certainly explains why this gold series stops so abruptly.