Ancient Greece - 450-400 BCE Sicily, Abacaenum AR Litra NGC Choice AU

From the Faces in Time Collection of Ancient coinage (21).

SICILY. Abacaenum. AR Litra (0.66 gms), ca. 450-400 BC. Obverse: Head of nymph/female slightly (three-quarters) facing to left.  Reverse: Wild sow with piglet left with ABA above. Animals are standing left on a double exergual line. The reverse is a reference to the great oak forests around modern day Tripi, Sicily, where large herds of wild pigs still roam today. Dark greenish gold patina. Campana 22; Bertino 20; HGC 2, 21; SNG ANS (pt. 5) 1295; SNG Lloyd 779; SNG Lockett 686.

Ruins of Abacaenum during the 21st century.

A city of the Siculi, Abacaenum does not appear to historically have been a Greek colony, however, it was influenced by Greek art and civilization. It originally included territory of Tyndaris, from which it was separated by the elder Dionysius when he founded that city in 395 BC. Dionysius conquered Mago, the Carthaginian general, in 393 BC in the Battle of Abacaenum.

Based upon historic accounts, it is evident that Abacaenum was a city of power and importance. Some historians do not even mention the city, but its name is found in the writings of Ptolemy, giving evidence that it existed during his time. Its decline was most likely due to the rise in prosperity of the neighboring city of Tyndaris. Its ruins were written about by Tommaso Fazello in the 1500s. He spoke of fragments of masonry, fallen column, and the remnants of walls, all of which indicated the ruins of a large city, one which had been obliterated down to its foundations.