The prosperity of the Ancient Greeks was by no means limited to Greece itself. The most profitable ventures of the Greeks occurred overseas at the colonies founded in Asia and Southern Italy. These cities served as a base for trade between the mainland Greeks, and those who lived great distances from central Greece. Trade was a lucrative venture, and these colonies often became more prosperous and powerful than their mother cities which founded them. One such case was the region in Southern Italy known as “Magna Graecia” or “Greater Greece”. At the time this coin was struck, this currency had become a standard of trade for merchants who came to conduct business. The style of Athena, portrayed with high plumes in her helmet, is in the fine style of the early Hellenistic period of Greek art. This is the period where portraits were closest to life-like portrayals, rather than stylized angular lines of the archaic style. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and war, and is displayed as such, helmeted. The reverse, shows a lion prowling to the right, which may indicate the Nemean Lion, a beast feared for its strength, who was only bested by the hero Hercules.