GREEK. LUCANIA, Velia. Circa 300-280 BC. Silver Nomos (7.30g). Philistion group. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet decorated with laurel wreath and wing; monogram behind neck guard, monogram before neck / Lion standing right; above, horizontal grain ear. Williams Period VII, 486 (O241/R340); HN Italy 1309; SNG Fitzwilliam 684 (same obverse die); Ars Classica & Naville XII, 520 (same dies); Jameson 400 (same obverse die). Attractive iridescent toning. gVF. This nomos was struck at the coastal city of Velia in Lucania in the early 3rd century BC, part of a distinguished Greek coinage tradition in southern Italy. As the home of the Eleatic school of Parmenides, Velia used its refined, often divinely themed coinage to express both civic pride and economic strength. This piece offers a succinct glimpse of the city's cultured identity on the eve of Roman dominance. (P)

Estimate: AUD 1000