Hieron II, Ptolemy, and the ‘Ptolemies’: numismatic imitation and bronze coinage in Hellenistic Sicily

• Autores: Dan Etches Jones
• Localización: Revue belge de numismatique et de sigillographie, ISSN 0774-5885, Nº. 166, 2020
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • In this article, I reconsider the ‘Galatian shield without S’ series of coins identified by Lorber & Wolf as products not of Alexandria as was previously thought, but of Syracuse under Hieron II. I suggest that, whilst the ‘Ptolemies’ may initially be associated with the payment of Ptolemaic troops on Sicily, they were always produced by the Hieronian mint. I then argue that the continued production of these coins may have been owed to their popularity and utility in exchanges across Sicily and that the ‘Ptolemies’ might indicate the developing signi?cance of the role played by bronze coins in the context of Hellenistic Sicily as more than small change. I also consider the place of the ‘Ptolemies’ in Hieron II’s monetary reforms, concluding that the imitative series likely played a crucial role therein. I suggest that this role was a product of the very popularity of these coins across Sicily and that this episode as a whole represents an intriguing example of innovative monetary policy and monarchic opportunisms.