BRUTTIUM. Terina. Circa 440-425 BC. Didrachm or Nomos (Silver, 23 mm, 7.65 g, 5 h). Head of the nymph Terina to left, wearing ampyx and pearl necklace with pendant; all within laurel wreath. Rev. TE-PINAION Nike seated left on overturned hydria, wearing chiton and himation, holding wreath in her extended right hand and kerykeion in her left. Gulbenkian 149 (same dies). HN Italy 2575. Holloway & Jenkins 12. Regling 7 (dies F/ζ). SNG ANS 801. Beautifully toned and in exceptional condition for this difficult issue, a wonderful coin of the finest Classical Magna Graecia style. Thin die break on the reverse, otherwise, good very fine.




We know surprisingly little about Terina, which produced one of the finest series of coins in all of Magna Graecia. The city was likely founded in the late 6th or early 5th century BC as a colony of Kroton. However, like many smaller Greek settlements in the region, Terina experienced alternating periods of independence and subjugation by hostile powers. It was sacked by native Bruttians in 356 BC and destroyed by Hannibal in 203 BC. Despite this, there must have been a Roman settlement at some point, as Pliny references it in the 1st century CE (Hist. Nat. III, 10).

Terina's coinage has long fascinated numismatists, and K. Regling’s 1906 monograph was the first die study of any Greek coinage to be published. What makes Terina's coinage particularly appealing is that it consistently depicts the nymph Terina on the obverse and a full-body figure of Nike on the reverse. The artists breathe life into these otherwise monotonous types by varying the styles, attributes, and gestures. On this coin, the magnificent head of the nymph is placed in a beautifully designed laurel wreath on the obverse, creating the illusion of a two-layered medallion. On the reverse, Nike has replaced her usual cippus with an overturned hydria, likely referencing her role as a spring nymph.