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Æ14
| Issuer | Eleusis |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 200 BC |
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| Composition | Bronze |
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| Obverse description | Veiled head of Demeter facing right, wearing a wreath of grain ears, rendered in the plain archaic provincial style typical of Eleusinian bronze coinage of the Hellenistic period. The portrait occupies the full field of the flan with no surrounding legend. The surface displays a dark patina with areas of green corrosion consistent with ancient burial. |
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| Reverse script | Ancient Greek |
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| Additional information |
Eleusis maintained its own bronze coinage despite being geographically and politically entangled with Athens throughout the Hellenistic period — an autonomy rooted in the sanctuary's pan-Hellenic religious status rather than any genuine political independence. The Eleusinian Mysteries drew initiates from across the Greek world, and local small bronzes like this one likely circulated within the sanctuary precinct itself, used for votive purchases, fees, or minor transactions tied to festival activity.
Kroll's cataloguing of Eleusinian bronzes remains the authoritative treatment, placing this type within a modest local emission that never achieved wide geographic circulation.