Tetradrachm - Pyrrhus I Locri Epizephyrii

Pyrrhus struck coins at Locri Epizephyrii during his Italian campaign, when the city opened its gates to him in 278 BC as he pushed against Roman resistance in the south. The arrangement was uneasy — Locri was a prosperous Greek colony with its own traditions, and Pyrrhus reportedly plundered the treasury of Persephone's sanctuary there to fund his army, an act the ancient sources record as bringing him nothing but misfortune afterward.

The Italian coinage of Pyrrhus is distinct from his Epeirote issues and survives in small numbers, explaining its appearance in only a handful of major reference collections.