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| Issuer | Priene (Ionia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 90 BC - 50 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | An owl, sacred to Athena and emblematic of civic wisdom, stands right upon a laurel branch, its head turned to face the viewer in the characteristic frontal pose of ancient Greek owl types. The Greek ethnic legend ΠPIHNEΩN, identifying the issuing city of Priene, is inscribed vertically to the left of the bird. The design is boldly conceived within the compact flan, with the laurel branch clearly articulated beneath the owl's talons. |
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| Mint | Priene, Ionia |
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| Additional information |
Priene occupied an awkward position in the late Hellenistic world — nominally free under Roman settlement of Asia after 133 BC, but economically squeezed between Miletus and the growing administrative weight of the Pergamene inheritance Rome had absorbed. Bronze civic issues of this period were produced for local market use rather than regional trade, which kept mintages modest and circulation geographically tight. Most survivors show the heavy wear consistent with use in a small urban economy before the city's gradual decline into irrelevance by the Imperial period.