A rare 5th century B.C. gold coin minted during the Carthaginian invasion of Sicily has been found in the ancient city of Agrigento, Sicily. It was minted around 405 B.C. by the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius I the Elder.

The coin was found during an emergency excavation to salvage a Greek-era tile-lined capuchin tomb at the mouth of the Akragas River. The tomb was part of the Maddalusa burial ground, in active use from the first quarter of the 6th century B.C. until the end of the 5th century B.C.

It is a 20 Litrai coin weighing over a gram that is in excellent condition. On the obverse is the profile head of Heracles wearing the skin of the Nemean lion. The reverse features a four-part incuse square with a female head in the center. Four Greek letters — ΣΥΡΑ — are inscribed in the corners of the incuse square, meaning “Syra” for Syracuse.

Founded as the city of Akragas by Greek colonists from Gela, Crete and Rhodes in 582–580 B.C., Agrigento was besieged and sacked in 406 B.C. during the conquest of Sicily by Carthaginian general Himilco. Syracusan general Dionysius had fought against Carthage since the invasion began in 409 B.C. and took power as the tyrant of Syracuse (formerly a democratic polis) in 405 B.C.

After a brief period of peace bought with enormous concessions of territory that expanded Punic control over almost all of Sicily, in 398 B.C. Dionysius I of Syracuse marshalled his forces and fought to expel Carthage from Sicily. He reduced their territories, but wasn’t able to boot Carthage from Sicily. Dionysius never stopped trying, though, alternating between peace treaties and war until his death in 367 B.C.

The [coin] is particularly significant not only for the rarity of the specimen but especially because it is situated in a specific historical moment: during the dramatic Carthaginian invasion of Sicily, at the end of the 5th century B.C., Syracuse, allied with Akrágas, minted extraordinary gold issues to support the war effort. The coin that was found belongs to this series, which recalls the tragic events that shook Greek Sicily, culminating in the conquest and destruction of Akrágas by the Carthaginians in 406 B.C.