Agrigentum

1 Mina

Copper alloy (bronze or brass)

Cast

Triangle

6.66 cm

5.72 cm

4.97 cm

Mass (g)	Mass (grain)	Date of measurement	Reference	fragmented	cleaned	reference weight
466.00	-	-	Auction Roma 2016	No	No	Yes

Symbol	Technique	Direction	Position	Number	Synecdoche
Crab	Stamped / Countermarked
Lobster	Stamped / Countermarked

Auction Roma 2016: Sicily, Akragas (?) Æ weight with suspension loop. 66.39mm x 65.11mm x 66.56mm x 49.75 mm; 466g. Unusual and important for possessing a countermark and engraved Greek legends. Side 1 bears a circular 16mm countermark, depicting a crab seen from above, with possibly a crayfish below, obscured by the irregularity of strike. The style of the crab is similar to countermarks stamped on Akragantine hemilitrai, dated to the early 4th century BC (the time of Dionysios I, tyrant at Syracuse). Side 2 bears a Greek inscription in two rows: ΑΝΤΑΛΛΙΔΟΣ / ΝΜΕΟΝΙΟΣΟ. There are also traces of an obscure previous inscription, partially overlapped by the above letters. Side 3 bears a Greek inscription AΓΤΑΛΛΙΔΙΣ in one row, without evident traces of previous letters. The base displays a further Greek inscription, separated in two branches: ΚΙΚO / ΝΟ (Σ ?). This bronze weight seems to correspond to the standard Attic Solonian mina of 457.80 grams, i.e. to 105 Attic drachms (see Land & Crosby 1964, p.3-4; Milne 1945), then rounded to 100 drachms, with a difference of only 1.8%. Usually specimens of Attic mina weight have a square or rectangular form and a weight range from about 426 to 477 g, with a weight range of about 450-460 g (mean = 450.2 g; median = 453.4 g). The above looped specimen is therefore within the normal range observed for a mina weight of the Solonian system. The application of a countermark on bronze (or lead) Attic weights is attested, as on some specimens found in the Athenian agora. The use of a countermark with crab and crayfish, already seen on Akragas hemilitrai, seems to report to an Akragantine context. From a private English collection formed before 1939.

No

Language	Technique	Legend type
Greek	Incised	Unidentified

ΑΝΤΑΛΛΙΔΟΣ
ΝΜΕΟΝΙΟΣΟ

AΓΤΑΛΛΙΔΙΣ

ΚΙΚO
ΝΟ (Σ ?)

ΑΝΤΑΛΛΙΔΟΣ | ΝΜΕΟΝΙΟΣΟ || AΓΤΑΛΛΙΔΙΣ || ΚΙΚO|​​​​​​​ΝΟ (Σ ?)

GREEK

FROM -500 TO -300

Name	Date of acquisition	Inventory number
Antiquities Trade	April 7, 2016	None

Reference	Page/Column	Reference (number)	Plate / Figure	Comment
Auction Roma 2016b	None	75	None	None

Mint: Agrigentum?

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