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Chalkon
| Issuer | Argos (Argolis) |
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| Year | 330 BC - 200 BC |
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| Orientation | Variable alignment ↺ |
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| Obverse description | Head of a wolf facing left, rendered in bold relief with characteristic open jaws and alert ears, occupying the central field of the flan. The type alludes to the sacred wolf of Apollo Lykeios, a principal civic deity of Argos. The design is executed in the plain, vigorous style typical of Argive bronze coinage of the late Classical to early Hellenistic period. No legend or border ornament accompanies the type. |
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| Reverse description | A large Greek capital letter Alpha (Α) dominates the field, serving as the ethnic abbreviation for Argos. Beneath the Alpha, a Corinthian helmet is depicted facing left, the crest and cheekpieces rendered in low but legible relief. The helmet is a recurring civic emblem on Argive coinage, referencing the city's martial tradition and its connection to the hero Diomedes. The composition is stark and heraldic, with no additional border or subsidiary devices. The flan is irregular, consistent with hand-struck municipal bronze issues of the period. |
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| Additional information |
Argos had a complicated relationship with bronze coinage — the city was slow to adopt it, long preferring its silver obols and hemobols for small transactions. By the time this chalkon entered production, Argos had survived the catastrophic Spartan siege of 494 BC by centuries and was navigating the fractured politics of the post-Alexander Peloponnese, at various points allied with Macedonia and at others resisting it. The broad date range of this type reflects genuine scholarly uncertainty about internal Argive chronology rather than a long uninterrupted issue.