Diobol (Coin) Depicting an Ear of Grain (500-473 BCE): Artwork and History

Diobol (Coin) Depicting an Ear of Grain (500-473 BCE) is in the Art Institute of Chicago collection. The museum lists its creator attribution as Greek; minted in Metapontum, Italy.

The work and its context

The Art Institute of Chicago describes the work:

The front (obverse) of this coin depicts an ear of barley. The back (reverse) depicts a bull with its head and horns facing downwards. A fillet, or headband, adorns its brow. Metapontum became wealthy through farming rather than trade. By illustrating the ear of grain on its coins, the city-state reminded its trading partners of its agricultural abundance.

Object facts

• Title: Diobol (Coin) Depicting an Ear of Grain
• Date: 500-473 BCE
• Artist attribution: Greek; minted in Metapontum, Italy
• Place of origin: Metaponto
• Medium: Silver
• Dimensions: Diam.: 1.3 cm (9/16 in.)
• Type: Coin
• Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium
• Reference number: 1923.1155

Collection credit

Gift of Mrs. William Nelson Pelouze

View the original

Explore the artwork in the Art Institute's collection, including its image and the museum's current catalogue details.

The description above is credited to the Art Institute of Chicago and reused under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0; HTML formatting has been converted to plain text. Other catalogue metadata and the public-domain image are provided under CC0 1.0.