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!
Æ Trihemiobol
| Issuer | Brettii |
|---|---|
| Year | 214 BC - 211 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/4 Drachm |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A crab depicted in full dorsal view, with carapace and outstretched claws rendered in careful detail, occupying the central field. The ethnic legend ΒΡΕΤ appears between the claws, with ΤΙΩΝ inscribed below, together reading ΒΡΕΤΤΙΩΝ, the genitive plural of the Brettii. Depending on the emission, a symbol — either a cornucopiae or a plectrum (hammer) — appears in the field; some specimens are struck without any accompanying symbol. The overall composition is characteristic of the autonomous bronze issues of the Bruttian League during the Second Punic War period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΒΡΕΤ ΤΙΩΝ |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
The Brettii — a confederation of Oscan-speaking tribes in Bruttium, the toe of Italy — struck this bronze during their alliance with Hannibal following the Roman disaster at Cannae in 216 BC. Their coinage from this window is a direct product of that political gamble: with Carthaginian forces controlling much of southern Italy, the Brettii administered their own affairs and minted accordingly. When Rome reasserted control after 211 BC, the confederation was stripped of its political autonomy and its coinage ceased entirely, making this a precisely bounded series with no later continuation.