Donation of Lady Mineia

305, Lot: 54. Estimate $100. Sold for $240. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

LUCANIA, Paestum (Poseidonia). Circa 90-44 BC. Æ Semis (14mm, 3.50 g, 6h). Female head right; MINEIA • M • F behind / Two-story building. Crawford, Paestum 38b; HN Italy 1258. Near VF, porous brown surfaces.

From the Colin E. Pitchfork Collection.

We have here the rare instance of a woman signing as the sponsor of a coinage issue. Mineia is also known from contemporary inscriptions as a major benefactor of the city of Paestum. The building, a public structure of some sort, may be another of her donations to the city, and it is even conceivable the female head is a portrait of Mineia herself.