1990.01

Litra of Gela (Sicily)

Silver, 0.72 g. 21 mm. c. 465-450 BC.

Obv.: Horse facing r. with bridle in its mouth; above, wreath.

Rev.: Forepart of man-headed bull r., with beard.

The coinage of Gela revived in c. 465 BC after the death of Hieron, tyrant of Syrakousai (Syracuse), when the population of Gela, which the tyrant’s brother and predecessor Gelon had moved to Syrakousai, returned to their own city.

By this time Gela, like other Greek cities in Sicily, was using a silver tetradrachmon of c. 17.20 g. Another weight standard was also in use, that of the litra (adopted from the native Sicel population), in which a litra of silver weighed c. 0.76 g. Five silver litrae were equal to one silver drachma.

The reverse image is of the river-god Gelas, deity of the river of that name, on the mouth of which stood the city of Gela. The bull, the largest animal familiar to Greeks, was a common symbol of irresistible physical power, like that of a strongly-flowing river.