Naslov
Prva emisija novca isejske kovnice
(The first issue of Issa coins)

Autori
Jeličić-Radonić, Jasna

Izvornik
Izdanja Hrvatskog arheološkog društva (0351-8884) 26 (2010); 61-67

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Radovi u časopisima, članak, znanstveni

Ključne riječi
isejski novac; Artemida/zvijezda; sirakuški novac Dionizija I. i Dionizija II.; isejska kovnica
(Issaean coins; Artemis/star; Syracusan coins of Dionysius I-II; Issaean Mint)

Sažetak
In his thorough study on “Inscriptions and coins of the Greek cities in Dalmatia”, Brunšmid set forth the basic typology and chronology for Greek coins thus far known in the territory of Dalmatia. The coins were classified according to stylistic features of individual types of coin issues, and they come from different museum and private collections without information on their find circumstances. Brunšmid began the chapter dedicated to Issa coins with the so-called coins of Ionios, which he dated to slightly before or roughly the mid-fourth century BC. The coins (obv. nymph’s head ; rev. star) belonged to the second period of circulation of Issa coins, roughly the end of the fourth century BC. These are bronze coins with a median weight of 5.58 g, and according to Brunšmid’s classification three types can be distinguished: nymph’s head in right profile, after ISSA legend/eight-pointed star with dot in middle (no. 7) ; followed by similar type, but with legend in front of the nymph’s head (no. 8) ; and the type without a legend (no. 9). Therefore, this was the first coin of the Issa colony with a designated ethnikon, and it has been dated to the final quarter of the fourth century BC. This dating of the Issa coins has been confirmed by frequent overstrikes of Pharos coins bearing a portrayal of Persephone, which in Brunšmid’s view also originated at the same time - a view that has been accepted in the literature. P. Visona dedicated several studies to the question of reconstructing the chronology of Issa coins, and in this context the Nymph/star type coin was considered. Based on a small number of obverse matrices and stylistic uniformities, Visona concluded that the total production of this coin type was modest, and dated it to the end of the fourth century BC, i.e. ca 320-300 BC. This has been confirmed by re-mints of this Issa type with the Pharos Persephone/goat type coins which have also been dated to ca 300 BC. It was already Gorini who underscored the role of Syracuse in the earliest phase of the circulation of coins in the Central Dalmatian zone in the first half of the fourth century BC and ascribed this to the colonization activities of Dionysius I (O dominio siracusano e principalmente Dionigiano nella zona). The establishment of the Syracusan colony of Issa was incontrovertibly linked to Dionysius the Elder and his imperialist/mercantile interests in the Adriatic Sea. In this context, Syracusan bronze coins circulated in the Greek cities of Central Dalmatia, in Issa first and foremost. Both types of the coins of Dionysius were present: the litra with Athena/star between two dolphins and the trias with Athens/hippocampus. It is precisely these Syracusan types which may have influenced the first Issa issues. For Gorini stressed the frequent assumption of coin types of a core city in newly-established colonies, so the star motif from the Syracusan litra may have been assumed in this manner and applied to the first Issa coins. The possibility of the star motif taken from the reverse of the Syracusan litra is also mentioned by Visona. Although stars were adapted to the size of minting plates in various ways, there is a striking similarity in portrayals, which indicates an indisputable link and mutual influences between the colonies. The selection of a woman’s image on the obverse of the Issa coin speaks in favour of this, which has been interpreted as a nymph, although recently N. Cambi attributed it to the goddess Artemis, the patron of sailing and shipping, which is clearly indicated by the maritime orientation of the colony. The Artemis/star type coins were therefore the first coins issued by the Issa mint, which was denoted with the ethnikon IΣΣA. The overstrikes of Issa coins into Pharos coins incontrovertibly demonstrates the cessation of circulation of the Issa Artemis/star type coins. Under what historical circumstances did this occur, i.e. why were the Issa Artemis/star coins re-minted with Pharos coins? The recent publication of the Pharos coins from the Slavonia Museum Collection in Osijek included publication of an example of a Syracusan trias with Athena/hippocampus overstriked as a Pharos coin with a portrayal of Persephone. The coin was therefore overstriked with the same type of Pharos coin as the Issa example, which would indicate that they were in circulation at the same time and stopped being used in the same period. After the fall of the Syracusan tyranny in 344 BC, the coins issued during the era of the Syracusan tyrants was overstriked not only in the territory of the Adriatic, but also in other cities of South Italy and Sicily that were historically associated with the activities of Dionysius I and II. Based on the numerous overstrikes of Pharos coins, one may conclude that the Issa Artemis/star type coins were issued parallel to the Syracusan coin types which were no longer in circulation after 344 BC. This indubitably confirms Brunšmid’s assertion on the rarity of original examples of this type of Issa coin, which was obviously minted much earlier. A conclusion that may therefore be drawn is that circulation of the coins from the period of Dionysian tyranny was discontinued, and this is confirmed by the overstriking not only of the Syracusan trias with Athena/hippocampusand the litra with Athena/star between dolphins, but also the Issa Artemis/eight-pointed star type. It is in this context that one may discern the answer as to why the Issa Artemis/star coin was re-minted with Pharos coins showing Persephone. That the Artemis/star coin had a modest face value is demonstrated by its use for local commerce, while Syracusan coins were probably used for major mercantile transactions. Thus, the withdrawal of Syracuse from the Adriatic after 344 BC led to the overstriking of the coins from the era of Dionysius, not just Syracusan but also the Issa coins which were in circulation simultaneously. The overstriking of the Syracusan trias with the Pharos coins showing Persephone after the fall of the tyranny shows that the overstriking of the same type of Pharos coins of the first issue of the Issa Artemis/star coins was obviously contemporary, and that these Issa and Pharos coin types were minted earlier. In this sense, it is incontestable that the first Issa coins were issued already during the reign of Dionysius, i.e. that it was in circulation parallel to the Syracusan trias. And this is considerably earlier in relation to the dating of this type according to Brunšmid’s chronology, which has thus far been generally accepted. Thus, the first issue of Artemis/eight-pointed star coins from the Issa mint may be viewed in the context of the establishment of the Issa colony by Dionysius and his rule in the Central Dalmatian zone. This has also been confirmed by recent archaeological research at the Remetin vrt site in Stari Grad on Hvar. This was therefore the first Issa coin type, which was followed by the so-called coins of Ionios, which overstriked the Syracusan bronze coins and the coins of other Greek cities, Pharos and Heracleia, but this subject requires a complex study of Greek colonization on the Adriatic Sea.

Izvorni jezik
Hrvatski, engleski

Znanstvena područja
Arheologija

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