Coin (reverse), Drachm

This silver drachm of Rome was minted between 225 and 212 BC. This picture shows the reverse of the coin. A drachm was the basic silver coin of Ancient Greece, where it was also the name of a standard weight, and a early form of coinage for the Romans. 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" or "dragma" - Greek for as much as you could hold in a hand.

The reverse depicts Jupiter, the father of the gods, with a sceptor and thunderbolt, in a vehicle called a quadriaga pulled by four horses and driven by Victory. The inscription ROMA is below.

Coinage of this and related types were clearly minted in far greater numbers than previous Roman issues. A number of coins survive, presumably due to hoarding in the unsettled times of the 2nd Punic War.

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