logo_moneymuseum

Sicily, Camarina, Tetras

back

Sicily, Camarina, Tetras (obverse) Sicily, Camarina, Tetras (reverse)

For once the goddess Athena and her accompanying animal, the owl, appear not on a tetradrachm from Athens: our bronze coin was minted in the colonial town of Camarina in Sicily. The coin dates back to around 415 BC when the Sicilian art of coinage was on its high point.

The dies for the small coins were cut by artists whose names are long forgotten. As far as we know today, they worked without optical instruments like magnifying glasses. This tetras with a diameter of just about 16 millimeters is thus a miniature work of art.

back

Signet Sunflower Foundation