Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XI 7 April 2016
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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.
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.