E22 from Bruttia, the Brettian League, 215-205 BC Obverse: Zeus head right within laurel wreathe (unfortunately the patina is heavily damaged on the obverse) Reverse: Eagle atop thunderbolt left, lyre in left field, BPETTIΩN around eagle (some patina damage but the eagle is still visible) Scheu 103 I love the eagle on this coin - it is of such lovely style! Feel free to show your southern Italian coins!
This thread topic came up a week or so ago in the other forum, so I will re-post here what I did there... I've been focused on forming a collection from Calabria (modern Apulia), which is the region of Magna Grecia in the "heel of the boot" of Italy. Although I've built some of this collection with coins from the more common mints of Tarentum (Taras) and Brundisium, I've tried to collect coins from the scarcer mints like Graxa, Hyria/Orra, Uxentum, and Samadion. Coins from mints such as Baletium, Neretum and Kasario will likely forever be out of my reach although I have seen a few from Sturnium come on the market. Alberto D'Andrea and Giuseppe Tafuri have a great reference book on these coins (in Italian) titled "Le Monete della Messapia". Samadi, mid- 2d century - beginning 1st century BC. Ae quadruncia Obv: Head Athena wearing Corinthian helmet Rev: 4 crescents facing outwards, symbolizing the coin's value (triuncias and biuncias are also known), ethnic ΣAMAΔI The reverse indicates that this coin appears to be overstruck on another coin. Orra, 208-202 BC. Ae Quincunx Obv: head of youth wearing helmet with triple crest and plume, beneath neck AΛ Rev: Eagle facing right on thunderbolt, wings outstretched, five pellets (mark of value) below, ORRA to right Orra, end of 2d century - beginning of 1st century BC. Ae Quincunx Obv: Head of Venus wearing laurel crown, scepter and lance behind bust Rev: Eros advancing right playing lyre, 5 pellets (mark of value) to left, ORRA to right Orra, end of 2d century - beginning of 1st century BC. Ae Biuncia Obv: Head of Venus wearing laurel crown, scepter and lance behind bust Rev: Dove flying right with wings spread, 2 pellets (mark of value) and ORRA below Graxa, mid-3d century BC Ae obol / uncia Obv: eagle with folded wings facing right on thunderbolt, star below to right, ethnic ΓPA in exergue Rev: pecten shell Uxentum, end of 2d century - beginning of 1st century BC. AE triuncia Obv: Head Athena facing right, wearing Corinthian helmet Rev: Hercules standing, facing left, hand on club and holding a cornucopia and the pelt of the Nemean lion, AO in top left corner Brundisium minted an extensive quantity of bronze coins beginning in 215-214 BC. Ae 1/8 uncia c. 213-211 BC Obv: Victory standing right holding palm frond Rev. Dolphin swimming left, BRVN below, V above right Ae semis, 2d century BC (minting likely ended at the end of the Social War, 89 BC). Ae semis. Obv: Head of Neptune, below beard, horizontal "S" indicates mark of value. Trident and Victory flying right, crowning Neptune behind neck Rev. Youth on dolphin swimming left. Youth holding lyre, Victory to left crowning him. S to right, BRVN below dolphin This later series (D'Andrea F1) is extensive, and has a number of symbols and magistrate officials initials.
Some more Brundisium coins, showing some of the magistrate initials and symbols. The one I showed before has a star to the left of the dolphin's head. Magistrate initials to left of dolphin's head Magistrate initials "OC" below ethnic on reverse Symbols - bunch of grapes in front of dolphin's head on the reverse Symbols: club to left of dolphin's head on reverse
CARTHAGE OCCUPYING BRUTTIUM Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel (approx Drachm / Denarius) 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLAR-O HN Italy 2016 SNG Cop 361-3 Bruttium Carthage occup 2nd Punic War AR Half-Shekel (approx Drachm / Denarius) 216-211 Tanit Horse SOLARdisc HN Italy 2016
QUINCUNX Luceria Apulia Luceria AE Quincunx 26mm 14.75g- Spoked Wheel 250-217 BCE Athena-Wheel Grose 443 HN Italy 678 SNG ANS 699 Frentani Larinum (Frentani), ca. 210-175 BC, bronze quincunx, 22mm, 9.80g Obverse: Head of Mars (or Athena, per Sear) in crested Corinthian helmet r. Reverse: Horseman galloping l., holding spear and shield decorated with thunderbolt, LADINOD below, 5 pellets (denom.) in ex. Reference: NH Italy 625, Campania 4a, Morcom 64, BMC 2 Grading: F , minor porosity, brown patina, very scarce Comment: Ex - Colin Pitchfork collection. Ex - Spink America auction (NY, Dec. 6-7 1999, lot 400 - part of). From a private collection formed by a pair of Polish brothers and sold in New York. Ex: Rudnck Numismatics Apulia Teate Apulia 225-220 BCE AE Quincunx 12.5g 26.5mm Athena R Corinthn helmet - TIATI owl K 5 pellets - BMC HN Italy 702a SNG Cop 689 var Rare
Tarentum, Calabria, Italia ITALY. Calabria. Tarentum. AR Drachm, 18mm, 3.1g, 10h; ca. 3rd Century BC. Obv.: Head of Athena facing right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet adorned with Scylla throwing a stone. Rev.: Owl right, wings closed, standing on olive branch; TAP to left, [ZOP to right.] Reference: HN Italy 975; Vlasto 1052. Comments: Tarentum, one of the largest cities of ancient Calabria, minted smaller denominations imitating Athenian owls, like this drachm. Tarentum was a SPARTAN Colony, with a little known fact that Athena was the Patron Goddess of Sparta. On this variant, Scylla is seen adorning Athena’s helmet, throwing a stone. Ex: JAZielinsky Numismatics
One of my joys in collecting ancients is learning about the many cultures that shared the human experience. Thank you for sharing!
@Milo W I'm researching a coin from Bruttium myself. Were you able to find any useful online references or did you mostly use books as references?
@Milo W - nice coin! I really like these Brettii coins with the wreath on the obverse and the lyre symbol on the reverse. It is supposedly the last of several series, struck circa 208-203 BC. Here is my coin from the same series: Brettii AE didrachm 208-203 BC 15.96 g, 28 mm O: head Ares left, wearing Corinthian helmet; wreath around R: Athena advancing right, holding spear and shield; lyre lower right Scheu 59, HN Italy 2000 Here is my example of the same type as yours from the earlier grain ear series: Brettii AE drachm 213-211 BC 8.53 g, 21 mm O: laureate head Zeus right; grain ear lower left R: eagle standing left on thunderbolt; cornucopia left Laffaille 72 (this coin); Scheu 14; HN Italy 1978 One of my collecting interests is coins of the Carthaginian allies during the 2nd Punic war. Very impressive that the Brettii struck so many exceptional coins for over a decade while constantly at war. Initially, their territory was a large area in the "forefoot" of southern Italy. As the war ended, they only clung to a tiny toehold around Kroton and Petelia when Hannibal and his army left to defend Carthage in 203 BC. @romismatist and @Alegandron - so many interesting coins! @Lane Walker - I would recommend starting with the excellent site of John E. van Wielink at: magnagraecia.nl Many Bruttium coin images from the ANS collection are online at: American Numismatic Society: Collections / Greek Reference books would include: Hoover, Oliver D. Handbook of Coins of Italy and Magna Graecia 2018 Rutter NK (ed) Historia Numorum - Italy 2001
My write-up draws much of its information from the Bruttians' Wikipedia page, Livy's Hannibal's War (23.11), and Forum ancient coins: https://www.forumancientcoins.com/n...aEu1mVZh3kDH_UDVRfq3iK0znxUK4AflIYzOxXzgpbq2g Here is the website for the Museum of the Bruttians and the Sea! https://www.museodeibrettiiedelmare.it/en/
I am currently taking a course on the Punic War, and think I might start a small sub-collection of Carthaginian allies. I am keeping my eyes open for a coin of the Mamertinoi in Messana!
Sharing a Drachm from Bruttium that arrived recently. Thank you for the resources - I'm eager to dive into them now that I have some attributing to do. CGB documents this as copper drachm but after some research it is far more likely be bronze with perhaps a low tin composition. Also apologies for the image quality - I haven't had a chance to properly photograph this coin as it's dark so going to require some artificial lighting to capture it. 11.7g 24.5mm
