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Æ14 - Ioel Large cross
| Issuer | Aksum |
|---|---|
| Year | 590-615 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Ge'ez |
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| Reverse description | A large Greek cross dominates the field, its arms extending nearly to the coin's border, with a small central pellet at the intersection. The Ge'ez royal legend is quartered within the four quadrants formed by the arms of the cross, each quadrant containing one or two characters of the king's name. The bold, geometric style of the cross is characteristic of late Aksumite bronze issues attributed to King Ioel. |
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| Additional information |
Ioel ruled during a period of sharp contraction in Aksumite trade dominance, as the Byzantine-Sasanian wars progressively strangled Red Sea commerce and disrupted the routes that had made Aksum wealthy enough to strike gold. Bronze issues like this one reflect that fiscal reality — gold coinage had effectively ceased, and the kingdom was minting in base metal for a local economy increasingly cut off from Mediterranean exchange networks.
The large cross type is Hahn's primary classification for this reign, with the 59a designation distinguishing die characteristics within a relatively small surviving corpus.