Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Stater
| Issuer | Kroton |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 480 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse presents the same tripod design in the Achaean incuse technique, whereby the obverse type appears sunk into the flan as a mirror image in intaglio. In contrast to the obverse, the wreaths adorning the tripod legs are rendered in relief within the incuse field, as are a pair of serpents rising in relief from the central foot of the tripod. An octopus is shown to the left of the tripod in the field, while the outlined silhouette of an upward-facing dolphin appears to the right. This sophisticated incuse treatment is a hallmark of the early Pythagorean-influenced mints of Magna Graecia. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kroton's staters of this period belong to the Achaean weight standard and were struck using the distinctive incuse technique — a method in which the reverse reproduces the obverse design in hollow relief rather than a separate type. This convention, shared among several Achaean colonies of Magna Graecia including Sybaris, Metapontion, and Kaulonia, may reflect a monetary agreement among allied cities, though scholars continue to debate whether the uniformity was economic or ceremonial in origin.
Kroton destroyed Sybaris in 510 BC, an act that briefly made it the dominant power on the toe of Italy. These staters were almost certainly circulating in the immediate aftermath of that event.