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Coin (obverse), Didrachm

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Coin (obverse), Didrachm
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This silver Roman coin, of a type known as a didrachm, was struck at an unknown mint sometime between 225 and 214 BC. This picture shows the obverse of the coin. A didrachm had a value of two drachmai. The coin's weight averaged 4 grams or slightly above, with a diameter of about 16 millimeters. The drachm supposedly took its name from a handful (drax) of six iron spits (obeloi), which were formerly used as currency. This ratio of six obols to the drachm continued long after the invention of coinage. The word is probably derived from "drax" - Greek for as much as you could hold in a hand. The Romans also used drachmai but created a new system of coinage around about 211 BC.

The obverse portrays a Janiform head (two faces looking outwards) of the Dioscuri. In Greek legend, the Dioscuri were Caster and Pollux, the twin brothers of Helen, and the sons of Zeus. Their cult was taken over by the Romans.

Coins of this and related types were issued just before and during the 2nd Punic War (218-201 BC) with Carthage. They marked the last issues of didrachms and drachms, replaced by a new system of coinage around 211 BC.

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