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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Messana |
|---|---|
| Year | 412 BC - 408 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A bounding hare leaps to the right across the upper field, rendered with lively energy in high relief. In the lower portion of the field, a large laureate head of the local deity or nymph faces to the right, modelled with refined Severe Style features including finely articulated hair. A dolphin is visible in the right field beside the hare, likely serving as an ethnic symbol referencing the strait of Messana. The legend MEΣΣ-ANIOΣ ΠΕΛΩΡΙ is distributed around the periphery of the flan in Greek characters, identifying the issuing city and the epithet of the local deity Peloros. |
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| Reverse lettering | MEΣΣ-ANIOΣ ΠΕΛΩΡΙ |
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| Additional information |
Messana's tetradrachms of this period were struck under Carthaginian-aligned oligarchs who had expelled the Samian settlers earlier in the fifth century, leaving the city in a state of chronic political instability. The issues attributed to Caltabiano 630 fall within a narrow window before the Carthaginian offensive of 409–405 BC devastated much of Sicily, making uninterrupted mint production difficult to sustain across the full date range.
The series draws on die-engraving traditions associated with the broader Sicilian school, though Messana never attracted the same concentration of signed artists as Syracuse. Caltabiano's corpus remains the authoritative die study for this mint.