Catalog
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| Issuer | Kroton |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 480 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Tripod depicted in high relief at center, with three curved legs terminating in lion-paw feet resting on a ground line; the cauldron surmounted by a decorated architrave with a central decorative finial. To the left of the tripod, the retrograde ethnic inscription ϘΡΟ (for Kroton) arranged vertically in archaic Greek letters. The composition is rendered in the distinctive incuse-relief style characteristic of early Achaean coinage of Magna Graecia, with fine detail in the metalwork of the vessel. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | ϘΡΟ |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Kroton's staters of this period follow the incuse convention attributed by ancient sources to Pythagoras — or more plausibly to the broader Pythagorean political influence over the city's governing elite. The technique, shared among a handful of neighboring Achaean colonies in southern Italy, was almost certainly a deliberate monetary agreement rather than coincidence, with each city striking its own type in matching incuse relief to signal economic solidarity.
Kroton was at its political apex in precisely this window, fresh from its destruction of Sybaris in 510 BC.