bga_598061 - MASSALIA - MARSEILLES Bronze lourd au taureau, (hémilitron)

MASSALIA - MARSEILLE

(3rd century BC)

Bronze coinage did not begin until the Second Punic War (221-202 AC.). The type of the reverse could have been borrowed from the city of Thurium, founded in 443 BC on the site of the ancient Sybaris destroyed in 510 BC. This city was the privileged ally of Marseilles.