Rhegion Tetradrachm, -425 – -420

Tetradrachm from Rhegion. Issued from -425 to -420. Struck in Silver. Measures 26 mm and weighs 17.31 g.

Obverse

Facing lion's head, on brows, two circular elements each containing three pellets; retrograde K to left, laurel sprig to right. The lion of Rhegion's coinage is the sacred animal of Apollo, patron god of colonisation.

Reverse

Male figure (Iokastos, or Aristaios) seated to left, holding sceptre in right hand, left hand resting behind on drapery tied around waist, serpent below seat; all within laurel wreath. The seated figure has no distinctive attributes that aid identification. Current interpretations attribute him as being Iokastos, son of Aiolos. Iokastos was king over much of Calabria. He died from a snake-bite according to Heraclides, a pupil of Plato. His brothers Pheraimon and Agathurnos were commemorated on coins of Messana and Tyndaris.