Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ
| Issuer | Kings of Epeiros |
|---|---|
| Year | 148 BC - 50 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing left, rendered in bold relief with deeply carved features characteristic of Epeirote bronze coinage. The deity is depicted with a full beard and flowing hair bound by a laurel wreath, the locks falling in heavy, naturalistic strands behind the neck. The modelling of the face is robust, with strong brow and prominent chin, reflecting the vigorous die-cutting style typical of northwestern Greek mints of the late Hellenistic period. No legend appears on the obverse; the field is otherwise plain. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Epeiros as a kingdom effectively ended in 167 BC when Roman forces under Lucius Aemilius Paullus sacked some 70 Epeirote communities in a single day, enslaving an estimated 150,000 people as punishment for the region's alignment with Perseus of Macedon. What followed was not a kingdom in any meaningful sense — a fragmented political entity limping along under Roman sufferance. Bronze issues attributed to "Kings of Epeiros" in this post-167 period reflect local attempts to maintain the apparatus of sovereignty without the substance of it.