Historical Context: This coin was minted Bruttium, Rhegion, located on the toe of the Italian peninsula and is separated by the Strait of Messina from the island of Sicily. After Cumae, it is the second oldest Greek colony in southern Italy. The colony was settled by the inhabitants of Chalcis and Messenia in 720 BC on the site of an older settlement. This dated back to the 3rd millennium BC and was established by the Ausones. The last Ausonian ruler was the legendary king Italus (from whom the name of Italy is derived). Rhegion was one of the most important cities in Magna Grecia, reaching great economic and political power during the 5th and 6th centuries BC under the Anaxilas government. Rhegion reached great artistic and cultural heights with its philosophic Pythagorean school, as well as sculpture and poetry schools, from where came leaders such as Pythagoras of Rhegium and Ibycus. Later, Rhegion allied with Athens during the Peloponnesian War but in 387 BC, the city was taken by the Syracusans. As an independent city, Rhegium was an important ally and "socia navalis" of Rome. Then during the Imperial age it became one of the most important and flourishing cities of southern Italy because it was the seat of the "Corrector", the Governor of the "Regio II Lucania et Bruttii" (province of Lucany and Brutium). It was a noble Roman city. During the Byzantine Age, Rhegion became the capital of the "metropolis of the Byzantine possessions in southern Italy", and later capital of the Duchy of Calabria and linchpin of the Greek church in Italy.

Obv: Lion's Head (Face on)
Rev: Apollo, Oilve leaf behind
Diameter: 27.8 mm diameter (about the size of a US Quarter and twice as thick)
Weight: 16.5
Condition: Very Fine plus, some minor roughness on reverse

Antique Coins
Ancient coins