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Chalkon
| Issuer | Ilion |
|---|---|
| Year | 301 BC - 281 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A hydria (water vessel) depicted in profile, featuring a tall narrow neck, globular body, and two lateral handles, set upon an elongated rectangular base or plinth. The design is boldly rendered in the field, consistent with the civic bronze coinage of Ilion. The abbreviated ethnic legend IΛ-I flanks the vessel, with the letters disposed to the left and right of the hydria. |
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| Mint | Ilion (Troas) |
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| Additional information |
Ilion — the city built on or near the ruins of ancient Troy — used its mythological identity as political currency throughout the Hellenistic period. This small bronze was struck during the years immediately following the battle of Ipsus in 301 BC, when the fragmentation of Alexander's empire left the cities of the Troad scrambling to align with whichever successor power offered the best terms. Ilion had cultivated relationships with the Diadochi carefully, trading on its prestige as Homeric Troy to extract privileges no strategically significant city could have claimed.
At under a gram, these pieces saw hard local use and survivors in decent condition are genuinely scarce.