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Chalkon
| Issuer | Ainos |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 300 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.36 g |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A human hand, depicted frontally and rendered in bold relief, grasps the staff of a caduceus whose twin serpents entwine upward toward the top of the field; to the left stands a grain ear in profile, and to the right a crescent. The composition fills the flan with no encircling legend, reflecting the city's reliance on emblematic types rather than inscriptions for this minor denomination. |
| 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 |
Ainos, a Thracian coastal settlement at the mouth of the Hebros river, maintained enough commercial independence during the fourth century to strike its own bronze small change — no small feat given the city's repeated entanglement with Macedonian expansion and earlier Persian tribute demands. The chalkon served purely local exchange needs, likely moving through the markets and harbor traffic that made Ainos a modest but persistent regional node.
The unlisted references across May, HGC, BMC, and SNG Copenhagen suggest this piece falls outside documented die sequences — worth noting for anyone building a corpus of Ainetan bronzes.