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Æ23 - Melithon
| Issuer | Synada |
|---|---|
| Year | 133 BC - 1 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style typical of Phrygian civic coinage. The portrait displays characteristic broad facial features with curling hair and beard, the laurel wreath clearly distinguishable despite moderate wear. The field is plain, with no encircling legend present on the obverse. The flan is slightly irregular, consistent with hand-struck provincial bronze coinage of the period. |
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| Reverse description | Central type comprising a thyrsus or torch flanked by two poppy heads and two grain ears, a composition symbolising agricultural and religious abundance typical of Phrygian civic bronzes. The device is set within a plain field. The Greek legend ΣYNNAΔ appears above the central type, with MEΛITΩN and AΘHNAIΩN distributed in two lines below, identifying the magistrate Melithon and the civic authority of Synnada. The lettering is well-formed in the square Greek epigraphic style of the Hellenistic period. |
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| Additional information |
Synada, a Phrygian city that gained strategic importance under Seleucid and then Attalid control, passed to Rome following the death of Attalos III in 133 BC — the bequest that transferred the entire Attalid kingdom. Civic bronze issues like this one filled local exchange needs that Rome had little interest in managing directly, leaving Phrygian cities to operate their own bronze coinage under loose provincial oversight.
The magistrate name Melithon appears on a small cluster of Synadan issues catalogued in SNG Copenhagen, suggesting a brief but productive tenure controlling the city's mint.