Hemilitron

[El Cobrador]

I picked this up from a dealer for whom ancient coins are outside of his area of expertise, and thus (if I hadn't bought it on the spot) he was simply going to put it up on a general internet auction website. Apparently it was once in the inventory of a U.K. dealer (as evidenced by once being priced in £) who had it identified as a hemilitron issued under Hieron II of Syracuse between 230 and 215 BC. This dates its production and use to include the period of the Second Punic War, in which Hieron II was an ally of Rome. The Romans at this time hadn't yet achieved hegemony over the entire Italian peninsula, let alone the island of Sicily. The year after after Hieron II's death, Roman forces laid siege to Syracuse, ultimately taking and sacking the city. It was during this struggle that Archimedes, the renowned mathematician and inventor, was killed.

From a numismatic standpoint, provided the above attribution's accurate, this'd have to be one of the last coin types put out by an independent Kingdom of Syracuse. It's 27 mm in diameter and weighs just over 18 grams. I'm presuming it's nothing rare, or even scarce, but aesthetically it just really appealed to me..

[Unwilling Numismatist]

That's nice!

[zookeeperz]

Agreed amazing how detailed it is even after all those years buried.