KM 91.2.27
Silver barley ear coin
530-10 B.C.
Metapontum, Southern Italy
KM 79131
Silver coin with head of Persephone (obverse) and barley ear (reverse)
330-300 BC
Metapontum, Southern Italy
The barley ear was the traditional symbol of the Greek colony of Metapontum, one good example of the importance of grain in the ancient diet. Persephone, who here wears a barley wreath, was the daughter of Demeter, the major agricultural goddess worshipped by the Greeks. When Persephone was abducted by her uncle Hades to live with him in the underworld, her mother mourned, and the earth did not bear fruit until Persephone's return.