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Sicily, Alontion. Æ (5.83 g), ca. 210-180 BC

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:800.00 USD Estimated At:1,000.00 USD
Sicily, Alontion. Æ (5.83 g), ca. 210-180 BC
Male head (or possibly the head of Roma) to left, wearing Phrygian helmet. Reverse: ΑΛΟΝΤΙΝΩΝ, Man-headed bull standing left, spouting water; in exergue, crab. CNS I 2. HGC 2, 214. Very Rare, especially in this condition. Sharply struck and quite lovely. Extremely Fine. A native Sikel city, Alontion claimed a Greek origin, assigning the city's foundation to Patron of Akarnania, the man who guided Aeneas and the Trojans on their tour of Sicily. The head on the obverse, sporting a Phrygian helmet, is usually identified as male, although it may instead be the Roman goddess Roma, and copied from Roman didrachms of the mid third century. If so, then this coin should probably be seen as an issue struck late in the First Punic War (264-241 BC) or shortly thereafter.