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Chalkon
| Issuer | Delos |
|---|---|
| Year | 308 BC - 167 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A kithara (seven-stringed lyre) depicted frontally in the center of the field, with clearly rendered crossbar, arms, and strings, serving as the principal emblem of Apollo and a hallmark of Delian civic coinage. The ethnic inscription ΔΗ (abbreviation of ΔΗΛΙΩΝ, 'of the Delians') is divided and placed flanking the instrument, with Δ to the left and Η to the right. The design is boldly struck within a plain, irregularly shaped flan. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Delos |
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| Additional information |
Delos occupied a peculiar position in the ancient Mediterranean economy — as the sacred island of Apollo and a major Aegean trading hub, it functioned under successive periods of Athenian control, brief independence, and ultimately Roman-imposed dominance before the Macedonian population was expelled in 167 BC and the island handed to Athens outright. This chalkon circulates within that long and contested span. Small bronze issues like this one serviced the sanctuary economy and the dense commercial activity around the port, where grain merchants, slave traders, and religious pilgrims all transacted in the same markets.
SNG Copenhagen 670 anchors the attribution solidly. The sanctuary's administrative apparatus, not a conventional polis mint, likely oversaw production.