LUCANIA, Thourioi. Circa 400-350 BC. AR Nomos (22mm, 7.78 g, 2h). Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet with neck guard, the bowl decorated with Skylla holding rudder in right hand and raising left hand to head, scanning / Bull butting right, head facing, on linear ground line; ΘOYPIΩN above; [in exergue, fish right]. HN Italy 1802; SNG ANS 1005; SNG ANS 991 (same dies); SNG Lloyd 473–4; Morgan 76 (this coin). Old collection tone with some iridescence, slight die wear on obverse. Good VF.
Ex Hess-Leu [9] (2 April 1958), lot 22; J. Pierpont Morgan Collection (sold privately; not in H. Schulman or Stack’s sales); Marquis Carlo Strozzi Collection (Sambon/Sangiorgi, 15 April 1907), lot 1098.
In 446 BC, with the aid of Athens, the refugee population of the destroyed city of Sybaris returned to the location of their previous home, and founded a new city, giving it the name Thourioi. The new city quickly regained the prosperity enjoyed by its former incarnation, as evidenced by the extensive series of coins it issued over the following two centuries. Although its perennial rival had been Kroton, the new city grew close to its former enemy, and Tarentum as well. Good relations with the latter were probably responsible for the weakening of Thourioi's historical connection to Athens, and she turned to Sparta during the Peloponnesian War. Although supported by Tarentum, the city suffered at the hands of the Lucanians and Brettians during the 4th century. In need of a more robust ally, the Thourians turned to Rome in 285 BC. Unlike many cities in southern Italy, Thourioi's support of Rome was steadfast during both the time of Pyrrhos and Hannibal's invasion, even though the Thourians suffered heavily at the hands of the latter. The coinage of Thourioi was diverse in both its denominations and metals. The primary types were the head of Athena, probably due to the city's initial close relationship with Athens, and a standing or butting bull, which had been the civic type on the coins of Sybaris.
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