An authentic silver didrachm struck in the ancient Campanian colony of Hyrianoi, among the rarest issues from southern Italy.
The obverse features the head of Athena in a crested Attic helmet, reflecting the colony’s Greek influence. On the reverse appears the man-faced bull—a river god rendered in hybrid form—embodying strength, fertility, and the natural abundance of the land. Struck from only four known obverse dies, this short-lived coinage represents the sole surviving evidence of the Hyrianoi colony. Its production spanned less than a generation, making these coins seldom encountered outside major collections.
The History
The Hyrianoi colony of Campania was so short-lived that virtually nothing is known of it beyond this rare coinage, struck for less than a generation in the late 5th to early 4th century BC.
The imagery speaks volumes: Athena represents both cultural alignment with Greece and martial protection, while the man-faced bull symbolizes the rivers that sustained local agriculture. With their production ending abruptly, these coins remain precious witnesses to a vanished settlement, making any surviving specimen an exceptional artifact of early Italian Greek history.
What’s Included
Issuer: Hyrianoi, Campania
Date: ca. 405–385 BC
Denomination: Silver didrachm (nomos)
Weight: ~7.02 g
Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet
Reverse: Man-faced bull walking left; city legend above
Material: Ancient silver
Size: See images for comparison with a U.S. quarter
Coin Details
Issuer: Hyrianoi, Campania
Date: ca. 405–385 BC
Denomination: Silver didrachm (nomos)
Weight: ~7.02 g
Obverse: Head of Athena left, wearing crested Attic helmet
Reverse: Man-faced bull walking left; city legend above
Material: Ancient silver
Size: See images for comparison with a U.S. quarter
Custom Order – Hyrianoi Silver Didrachm Pendant
18k Gold / Prong / A
$975.00
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Are all coins authentic?
Yes — all coins are genuine, not replicas. Fakes are rare because good forgeries take too much effort for low-value coins, and bad ones are easy to spot.
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