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Dichalkon
| Issuer | Argos (Argolis) |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 50 BC |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Hera facing right, her hair elaborately dressed and bound with a stephanos (diadem), with flowing locks rendered in fine striated detail falling to the neck. The portrait is rendered in the Hellenistic style typical of late 2nd to early 1st century BC Peloponnesian coinage, occupying the full field of the flan with no inscription or border. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A tall pillar fountain (krene) depicted in profile at center, with a water spout visible at its capital, set upon a stepped base; to the left, a ligated monogram of Argive civic magistrates; to the right, a wreath rendered in naturalistic detail. The composition references the famous sacred spring of Argos and serves as a civic emblem of the city. The field is unlettered. |
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| Additional information |
Argos in the late second and early first centuries BC was nominally independent but operating squarely within Rome's expanding shadow following the sack of Corinth in 146 BC. The destruction of Corinth effectively eliminated Argos's chief regional rival and trading counterweight, leaving the city economically diminished even as it survived politically intact. Small bronze divisional coinage of this period was the working currency of a city adjusting, not prospering.
The BCD Peloponnesos reference places this piece within the authoritative collection assembled by a single private collector whose Peloponnesian holdings, sold at Leu in 2004, remain the benchmark corpus for the region's civic bronzes.