Etruria, Populonia.   20 units 3rd cent., AR 8.27 g. Diademed head of Gorgoneion facing; below, X – X. Rev. Octopus (body off flan). SNG Lockett 41 (this coin). AMB 10. Vecchi 44.9 (this coin). Historia Numorum Italy 146.
Very rare. Wonderful old cabinet tone, reverse off-centre, otherwise extremely fine

Ex Hirsch XXX, 1911, Barron 18; Naville VI, 1923, Bement 21; Glendining's 25 October 1955, Lockett 24; Kricheldorf 13, 1963, 7; CNA 5, 1988, Gans 6 and New York XXVII, 2012, Prospero 3 sales. From the Allatini collection.
Populonia was an old Etruscan settlement frequently thought to have been named in honor of Fufluns, an Etruscan wine-god equivalent to Greek Dionysos. However, recent study has shown that this derivation is based on a misreading of Etruscan inscriptions (indeed, Etruscan is still an ancient language that is imperfectly understood) and that the name of the city is most probably related to the Latin word populus meaning “the people.” Although Populonia and the other cities of Etruria were first exposed to Greek style coinage through contact with the Greek colonies of western Italy, Etruscan coinage regularly involves features not usually found in mainstream Greek coinage.
Etruscan coins are totally different from any others in the ancient world and they are characterised by blank reverses and marks of value on the obverses, expressed in what is commonly called Roman numerals.
The coinage of Populonia has been divided in three phases by the scholars. This 20 asses belongs in the second series in which we can appreciate a large variety of representations of the Gorgoneion on obverse, and extra pellets are added to the value marks. On the reverse of this series, we see for the first time several figured type as in this specimen where there are an octopus and a trident.