DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45277#0191
AGRIGENTUM.
107
Trias.
Eagle tearing hare.
Hexas.
Eagle carrying in claws
hare, pig, fish, or bird.
Uncia.
Eagle with closed wings
on fish.
Crab. Symbol: Crayfish. Mark of
value • • • .ZE Average wt. 124 grs.
Crab. Symbols: Two fishes or one fish.
Mark of value
ZE Average wt. 115 grs.
Crab. Symbol: Fish. Mark of value •
ZE Average wt. 58 grs.
The actual weights of these bronze coins, large and small, together
yield an average of 613 grs. for the litra. This perhaps shows that the
litra had already been reduced from 3375 grs., its original weight, to | of
that weight, or 675 grs., a reduction which is thought by Mommsen {Mon.
Rom. i. p. 112) to have taken place in the time of Dionysius, but which
the weights of the bronze coins of Camarina (113), and Himera (p. 128),
if they are of any value as evidence, prove to have occurred much earlier.
After the memorable destruction of Agrigentum by the Carthaginians
in b. 0. 406, the surviving inhabitants appear to have returned to their
ruined homes; but until Timoleon’s time the town can hardly be said to
have existed as an independent state. No new coins were issued, but the
bronze money already in circulation seems to have been frequently
countermarked in this period.
Timoleon, circ. 340 b. c., recolonized the city (Plut. Tim. 35) with a body
of Velians, and from this time it began to recover some small degree
of prosperity.
Giro. B.c. 340-287.
Crab.
Head of Zeus.
Free horse ZR | Drachm.
AKPATANTlNflN Eagle erect, with
spread wings
ZR wt. 18-7 grs.= i| Litra.
ZR wt. 13-5 grs. —1 Litra.
Bronze.
Hemilitron. AKPATA£ Head of Eagle with closed wings seated on
young River-god Akragas, horned. Ionic capital. In field, Crab. Mark
of value * * * . ZE Av. wt. 268 grs.
This is the average weight of the four specimens in the British Museum,
according to which the Litra would weigh 536 grs., which is inter-
mediate between the first and the second reductions of the Litra.
There are also bronze coins of this period without marks of value, obv.
Head of Zeus, rev. Eagle devouring hare, or winged fulmen. Size,
•75-55-
The coins attributed to this period are not numerous, owing to the fact
that during the greater part of the reign of Agathocles at Syracuse
(b.c. 317-289), Agrigentum was compelled to acknowledge the supremacy
of that city, which for a time usurped the right of coining money for all
those parts of the island subject to her dominion.
After the death of Agathocles, a tyrant named Phintias rose to the
supreme power at Agrigentum, and extended his dominions over a large
part of Sicily besides Agrigentum.
107
Trias.
Eagle tearing hare.
Hexas.
Eagle carrying in claws
hare, pig, fish, or bird.
Uncia.
Eagle with closed wings
on fish.
Crab. Symbol: Crayfish. Mark of
value • • • .ZE Average wt. 124 grs.
Crab. Symbols: Two fishes or one fish.
Mark of value
ZE Average wt. 115 grs.
Crab. Symbol: Fish. Mark of value •
ZE Average wt. 58 grs.
The actual weights of these bronze coins, large and small, together
yield an average of 613 grs. for the litra. This perhaps shows that the
litra had already been reduced from 3375 grs., its original weight, to | of
that weight, or 675 grs., a reduction which is thought by Mommsen {Mon.
Rom. i. p. 112) to have taken place in the time of Dionysius, but which
the weights of the bronze coins of Camarina (113), and Himera (p. 128),
if they are of any value as evidence, prove to have occurred much earlier.
After the memorable destruction of Agrigentum by the Carthaginians
in b. 0. 406, the surviving inhabitants appear to have returned to their
ruined homes; but until Timoleon’s time the town can hardly be said to
have existed as an independent state. No new coins were issued, but the
bronze money already in circulation seems to have been frequently
countermarked in this period.
Timoleon, circ. 340 b. c., recolonized the city (Plut. Tim. 35) with a body
of Velians, and from this time it began to recover some small degree
of prosperity.
Giro. B.c. 340-287.
Crab.
Head of Zeus.
Free horse ZR | Drachm.
AKPATANTlNflN Eagle erect, with
spread wings
ZR wt. 18-7 grs.= i| Litra.
ZR wt. 13-5 grs. —1 Litra.
Bronze.
Hemilitron. AKPATA£ Head of Eagle with closed wings seated on
young River-god Akragas, horned. Ionic capital. In field, Crab. Mark
of value * * * . ZE Av. wt. 268 grs.
This is the average weight of the four specimens in the British Museum,
according to which the Litra would weigh 536 grs., which is inter-
mediate between the first and the second reductions of the Litra.
There are also bronze coins of this period without marks of value, obv.
Head of Zeus, rev. Eagle devouring hare, or winged fulmen. Size,
•75-55-
The coins attributed to this period are not numerous, owing to the fact
that during the greater part of the reign of Agathocles at Syracuse
(b.c. 317-289), Agrigentum was compelled to acknowledge the supremacy
of that city, which for a time usurped the right of coining money for all
those parts of the island subject to her dominion.
After the death of Agathocles, a tyrant named Phintias rose to the
supreme power at Agrigentum, and extended his dominions over a large
part of Sicily besides Agrigentum.