Vases depicted on coins of ancient Italy

Towards the middle of the 5th and in the first half of the 4th century BC in South Italy Tarentum, Herakleia and Metapontum stand out for the quantity of coins issued with types representing vases, above all kantharoi and oinochoai. In the first half of the 3rd century BC in Apulia also Canusium and Caelia represented characteristic containers of the Messapian civilization; in Lucania Metapontum and Herakleia presented on their coins kantharoi, oinochoai, kotylai, amphorae and chalice craters. These vases give the impression to be a modern ‘catalogue’ of all the drinking vessels that these cities were able to offer to their customers. Such great and meticulous attention was determined by the will to promote to the general public the different qualities and the multiplicity of vases that the local workshops produced.