As a Siculo-Ptolemaic shield bronze type, this coin stands as a direct link to one of the more consequential alliances in the pre-imperial Greco-Roman world. That between Hieron II and Ptolemy II. It is known that in c. 269 BC, Hieron became the Strategos of the anti-Carthaginian forces on the island and given the precarious nature of his command, as well as the forces arrayed against him, it makes logical sense that Hieron would reach out to potential foreign allies. And in the eastern Mediterranean, that meant Ptolemy II. According to Wolf and Lorber, it is highly likely that diobols of the “shield” type (including this particular coin) circulated because of, and during, Hieron’s military campaigns. These coins, although not exact copies, were stylistically similar to contemporary Ptolemaic types and attest to the monetary and military weight of Egypt. While there is no definitive proof as to why Hieron struck these imitative coins, it is highly likely that they were struck only until Hieron proclaimed himself king of Syracuse and went to war with Rome in 264/3.