The numismatic section

The numismatic section [rooms 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19]
The numismatic section offers a rich panorama of monetary discoveries in Ugento dating back to the 5th century BC and the Roman imperial period, with some examples even later (from the Byzantine period and the 17th-18th century). The oldest coins (5th-3rd century BC), mostly in silver, are associated with the mints of Magna Graecia (such as Taranto and Naples) and Epirus (Ambracia). There are also numerous bronze issues from Messapia mints (3rd-2nd century BC), among which those from Ugento itself stand out; in fact, four issues are known for the city, all in bronze, dated to the 3rd-2nd century BC. It consists of an axis and a semi-axis, as well as two smaller nominals, without a sign of value, one heavier and the other lighter (fig. 1); only the semisse, which is the most attested series, presents the sign of value, an S, both on the obverse and on the reverse, which allows it to be linked to a Roman-type weight standard. Three emissions (the axis, the semisse, and the heaviest nominal among those without a sign of value) are characterised by the same type of reverse: Heracles is standing, with his right hand on the club and his left hand holding a cornucopia; the leontè is also placed on the left forearm. On the axis, Heracles is also crowned by a flying Nike. The obverse instead shows in two cases (half-faced and heavier nominal among those without a sign of value) the head of Athena with a Corinthian helmet, while on the axis there is a two-faced female head, again recognising Athena, also wearing a a Corinthian helmet. The smaller nominal, however, has different types: an eagle with open wings on a thunderbolt on the obverse and a vase (perhaps a kantharos) on the reverse. The axis and semiaxis have the legend OZAN, while the two lighter nominal AO, probably abbreviation of AOZEN. According to the most recent studies, these last issues represent the oldest core of coinages, dating back to the last decades of the 3rd century BC, issued on the Greek model and to a weight standard that has not yet been clearly defined, but within which one nominal would be a double of the other (perhaps an ounce and a half-ounce).The axis and the semi-axis would belong to a later phase, perhaps placed after an interruption linked to the Hannibalic war and framed during the 2nd century BC, when a Roman model was adopted (with a reduced uncial standard), but the Messapian language was maintained for the legend, demonstrating the strong identity imprint in the use of language and writing by the Messapians. Probably, that issuance of the semisse began first, in the central decades of the 2nd century BC, and shortly after that of the axis. The distribution of the finds relating to the coins of Ugento covers a very limited area, apparently centred on the city itself and its immediate surroundings, confirming an essentially local destination, consistent with other elements such as the use of exclusively bronze issues, the low volume of production, the episodic nature and the limited number of written characters. For the late republican era, there are issues from Rome, Brindisi, Corinth, and above all the hoard of 19 silver denarii found in a store room in 1984 in via Piave, in the south-western sector of the city: the oldest coin dates back to the second decade of the 2nd century BC, while the most recent piece, from L. Calpurnius Piso Frugi, can be dated to 90 BC. (fig. 2).
The imperial age is represented by bronze and silver coins of Augustus, Tiberius, Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, Trajan, Marcus Aurelius, Caracalla, Claudius Tacitus, Gallienus, Constantine and Constantius II. Finally, there are bronze coins from the Byzantine era, a period for which an important hoard of 14 11th century follies is known from the territory of Ugento. (9 anonymous and 5 issued by Costantino).