I like the coins of Lucania and have been bidding on this type for years. LUCANIA, Metapontion. Circa 340-330 BC. AR Nomos (18.5mm, 7.75 g, 2h). Helmeted head of Leukippos right; to left, dog seated left; Σ below neck truncation / Barley ear with leaf to right; bird above leaf, AMI below. Johnston Class B, 3; HN Italy 1576 CNG last auction Hammer $240. I'm happy! Show your Lucania silver if you got em.
That's a very manly coin. I have a more feminine Lucanian coin This was one of the first individual ancient coins I bought at auction. LUCANIA, Velia 305-290 BCE AR didrachm, 17.5 mm, 7.3 gm Obv: Head of Athena right, wearing crested helmet, decorated with griffin; at left, A Rev: YEΛHTΩN; lion standing on exergual line; above dolphin between I and Φ Ref: SNG ANS 1375-6
My favorite has been this obol size 1/12th stater of Metapontion (Metapontum) has an ear of grain obverse and incuse single kernel reverse. Larger denominations had an incuse matching the obverse but this downsize seems appropriate for the tiny coin.
We see the silver unit of this region called by several names including didrachm, stater and nomos. What would you prefer and why? Whatever they are, the other two coins above each would buy 12 of my coin in their day.
Wow, JBG => that's an awesome OP-example!! (congrats) Man, I love the sweet examples from Lucania ... total winners!! LUCANIA, Thourioi. AR Nomos Circa 400-350 BC Diameter: 21 mm Weight: 7.35 grams Obverse: Head of Athena right, wearing helmet decorated with Skylla holding rudder over shoulder Reverse: Bull butting right; below, dolphin right in waves Reference: HN Italy 1794b; SNG ANS 1048 LUCANIA. VELIA AR NOMOS Date: 300-280 BC Size: 21.65 mm Weight: 7.29 grams Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing crested helmet decorated with Griffin, Θ behind neck Reverse: YEΛHTΩN, Lion right, tearing at prey; above, grasshopper between Φ-I Attribution: SNG ANS 1364
I like everything I've seen here so far. Especially @TIF 's piece. Somehow the toning and design on that one speak to me. The second piece in @stevex6 's recent post is pretty dang awesome, too. Nice contrasting toning.
I don't know what we should call them but as long as the type of metal, size, and weight are stated in the description, it doesn't really matter.
Does anyone know who started the nomos use and why they made the change? Didrachm and stater were standard 30 years ago; was the change based on some evidence that the term was used by the makers or is this like the Aurelianianus rot?
A gorgeous "type set" display, ancientnut! Here's my Lucania distater/dinomos/15.7 gram-weighing-denomination: It's a small detail but the reverse is signed on the exergue line by Histor/ISTOROS.
Wow, you guys have such beautiful coins! Here is an ugly one. I bought it as an unidentified because I wanted a challenge. The seller knew it was Greek but not what region. Usually when I have to identify a coin I can figure out one side or the other and do searches online and in books. This obverse was challenging. At first I thought I saw a shell. Later I thought perhaps a vase, or maybe some armor. The reverse made no sense. I thought perhaps a monogram. Eventually I stumbled across the coin in a catalog. The coin is a bronze of Herakleia. The obverse depicts a "skyphos", a form of vase I was unaware of and wouldn't have know to search for. No one is quite sure of the reverse. Some references call it "quiver with strap and bow?", others "bird trap?" I believe it is a bird trap. A better example of the coin can be seen at http://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=23040 . I believe the reverse depicts a trap similar to the one in this three minute YouTube video:
