Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Chalkous - temp. Artaxerxes III / Darius III
| Issuer | Achaemenid Satrapy of Ionia |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC - 334 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 rough, irregular incuse depression occupying the majority of the flan, its surface exhibiting a distinctly granulated, uneven texture formed by multiple irregular lumps, consistent with the primitive punch technique employed for small fractional bronzes of the Achaemenid satrapal series. |
| 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 |
These small copper pieces were struck in the final decades of Achaemenid control over the Ionian coastal cities, a period defined less by administrative stability than by the slow-motion collapse of Persian authority in western Anatolia. Artaxerxes III had spent the 340s brutally reasserting control over rebellious satraps and reconquering Egypt, leaving the western satrapies to manage local coinage with considerable autonomy. By the time Darius III came to the throne in 336 BC, Alexander's crossing was less than two years away.
The attribution spanning both reigns reflects genuine uncertainty in the die sequence rather than careless cataloging.