Nomos circa 340-330, AR 21 mm, 7.86 g. Laureate head of Zeus r.; in r. field, ΕΛΕΥΘΕΡΙΟΣ and in l. field, Δ. Rev. META Barley ear with leaf l.; above which, Silenus and below, Δ. Johnston, Class A, 2.1. SNG ANS 451 (these dies). SNG Lloyd 373 (this obverse die). SNG München 202 (these dies). Historia Numorum Italy 1557. HGC 1, 1057. Very rare and among the finest specimens known of this difficult issue. A coin of wonderful style struck in high relief on sound metal. Light iridescent tone and good extremely fine Ex NAC 4, 1991, 15; Roma Numismatics VIII, 2014, 9; NAC 72, 2015, 292 and Triton XXII, 2019, 38 sales. Although the city had enjoyed great prosperity in the sixth and fifth centuries BC due to its fertile agricultural hinterland, when this nomos was produced in the latter half of the fourth century BC, Metapontum was facing increasing difficulties. The city had managed to stave off earlier attacks by the Syracusan tyrants, but now the neighbouring Italic peoples, the Lucanians and Bruttians, were beginning to pose a serious threat. In an effort to defend itself, Metapontum allied with long-time rival Tarentum and Alexander the Molossian in 334 BC. Alexander and his mercenary army inflicted several major defeats on the Lucanians and the related Bruttians, but he was killed by treachery at the Battle of Pandosia in 331 BC. This disaster broke the alliance and left Metapontum (and the other Greek cities of southern Italy) to face the rising power of the indigenous Italic peoples alone. It is possible that Metapontum was also a member of the Italiote League in 344 BC when Tarentum invited the aid of Archidamus of Sparta, but this is uncertain. This nomos belongs to a much larger series of emissions featuring various deities on the obverse and a grain ear on the reverse, and may have been struck in part to finance the struggle against the Lucanians. The grain ear was an old badge of the city going back to the sixth century BC, while the obverse depicts and names [Zeus] Eleutherios ("Freedom"). The latter was especially popularised at Syracuse under Timoleon in the same period, and this coin may perhaps reflect some degree of Syracusan influence. It is also tempting to suggest that the Metapontine Eleutherios issue might have been intended to be paired with the unique nomos depicting and naming Damokratia, the personification of Democracy (cf. Triton VIII, lot 34). If so, they seem to advertise the cherished institutions of the city threatened by the encroachments of the Lucanians. Please find here the video of the coin