ANCIENT GREECE - GREEK Lucania, Metapontum. Half-shekel (or drachma), occupation of Metapontum ND (214-207 BC), Metapontum. Av. Head of Athena right, with Corinthian helmet with crest. Rv. META. Ear of wheat on its stalk with a leaf; an owl resting on the leaf. SNG ANS 549 - HGC 1, 1092 - SNG Lloyd 404 - E.S.G. Robinson NC 1964, The Coinages of the Second Punic War, p.50, n° 3 and pl. VI/6 ; Silver - 3,67 g - 19 mm - 6 h With a label indicating a purchase from P. Crinon in 1996 (2900 f). NGC Ch AU 4/5 4/5 (8585318-038). With the owl with outstretched wings. On a wide blank and close to its mint condition, with a light, patina on the original gloss. Superb at Fleur de coin. It was after the Battle of Cannae, on 2 August 216 BC, that Metapontum expelled its Roman garrison and declared for Carthage. The town became the headquarters of a garrison and a supply depot for Hannibal. The Carthaginian coinage in Metapontum is distinguished from its predecessors by the doubling of the finial on the reverse and the presence of Demeter on the right. The technical quality of the work is excellent. After 207 and Hannibal's defeat, Metapontum was taken back by the Romans and never regained its importance.