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9 Obols - Antipater
| Issuer | Byzantion |
|---|---|
| Year | 240 BC - 220 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Draped bust of Demeter facing right, her head veiled and wreathed with grain ears, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with delicate facial features and softly modelled hair curling beneath the veil. The wreath of wheat ears is prominently displayed atop the veil, serving as the primary divine attribute of the goddess. The portrait exhibits high relief against an unadorned field, characteristic of the Byzantion mint's skilled die-cutting of this period. No legend or inscription appears on the obverse. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Byzantion's magistrate coinage of this period reflects the city's unusual position as a toll-collecting power on the Bosphorus strait, where every vessel passing between the Black Sea and the Aegean was subject to fees that made the city extraordinarily wealthy for its size. The 9-obol denomination itself is a curiosity — subdivisions of the stater in multiples of three obols were characteristic of Byzantion's local weight standard, diverging from the more widespread Attic and Aeginetic systems used by neighboring mints.
The magistrate name Antipater appears across a small cluster of issues attributable to this same narrow date range, suggesting a relatively brief tenure in office rather than a long administrative career.