Lucania, Thurium. AR Nomos, circa 430–400 BC.

Lucania, Thurium. AR Nomos, circa 430–400 BC. Obv. Head of Athena right, wearing crested Attic helmet adorned with a wreath. Rev. ΘΟΥΡΙΩΝ, bull butting left; fish in exergue. 21 mm, 7.67 g. SNG ANS 920; HN Italy –. Light iridescent toning; minor die break on obverse, otherwise very fine. Ex CGB Mail Bid Sale 47 (2011), lot 12.

Struck in the first decades after the foundation of Thurium in Thurii in 444/3 BC, this nomos belongs to the early classical output of the city, whose coinage achieved a high level of artistry under Athenian and Panhellenic influence. The obverse shows Athena in a refined Attic style, her helmet crest sweeping back and decorated with a wreath that underscores both civic pride and divine favour. The delicately modelled features and crisp engraving mark the work of a skilled engraver active in the early years of the mint. The reverse depicts the butting bull, a long-standing badge of Sybaris, whose displaced citizens formed a major component of the new settlement at Thurium. Retained as a symbol of continuity, the powerful animal embodies both the agricultural wealth of the region and the proud identity of the Sybarites within the new civic framework. The small fish in the exergue alludes to the maritime character of the Gulf of Tarentum and is a recurrent secondary motif on the nomoi of Thurium. An attractive and historically significant issue, representing the early synthesis of Athenian artistic influence and Italic tradition that characterised Thurian coinage in the classical period.