A Syracusan gold coin re-emerges from the necropolis of Akràgos

An emergency excavation, planned by the Superintendence of Agrigento for the recovery of a capuchin tomb made of tiles from the Greek period, in the Maddalusa dune – west of the mouth of the Akràgas river – led to the discovery of a gold coin of particular historical and numismatic importance.

The discovery adds to the exceptional archaeological evidence that has emerged in Maddalusa since the 19th century, which documents the existence of a vast necropolis used since the first decades of life of the city of Akràgasin the first quarter of the 6th century. B.C

The importance of the Akràgas necropolis for the ancient world

Subsequent excavations and discoveries have made it possible to define its extension as over three kilometres, along the coastal strip and in the central and western part of the hill. “This discovery – said the councilor for cultural heritage and Sicilian identity, Francesco Paolo Scarpinato – testifies to the importance of archaeological research in the territory and the value of protection activities, confirming how the archaeological heritage continues to offer new contributions to the knowledge of the complex history of Akràgas, one of the richest and most celebrated Greek cities in Sicily and the ancient Mediterranean“.

From Maddalusa come sarcophagi of particular value, in marble and calcarenite, box tombs built with tiles and stone slabs, burials in vases, both for cremation and for the inhumation of children, today partly exhibited in the “Pietro Griffo” regional archaeological museum of Agrigento. The necropolis continued to be used until at the end of the 5th century. BC, a period to which the gold coin found also belongs.

The gold coin effigies

The specimen, exceptionally preserved, presents on the obverse the head of Heracles turned to the leftwith his head covered by the leontè (the skin of the Nemean lion, the invulnerable animal defeated by Heracles during his first labor). On the reverse, a quadripartite incuse square with a small female head in the center and the legend Syra, referring to Syracuse. The discovery is of particular importance not only for the rarity of the specimen, but above all because it takes place in a specific historical moment: during the dramatic Carthaginian invasion of Sicily, at the end of the 5th century. BC, Syracuse, Akràgas’ ally, minted extraordinary gold issues to support the war effort. The coin found belongs to this series, which recalls the tragic events that shocked Greek Sicily, culminating in the conquest and destruction of Akràgas by the Carthaginians in 406 BC