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Didrachm
| Issuer | Carystus |
|---|---|
| Year | 490 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Cow standing right, head turned back to left to nuzzle its suckling calf, which kneels beneath her in left profile. The group is rendered in high relief with naturalistic detail, the animals' musculature carefully articulated by the engraver. A dotted exergual line runs along the base of the design, framing the composition. The scene is a celebrated emblem of Carystus, evoking the fertile pastoral character of southern Euboea. |
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| Reverse description | Cock standing right in three-quarter profile, its fanned tail feathers, barred wing plumage, and crested head rendered with exceptional engraved detail. The bird occupies the full field of a shallow incuse square formed by the hammer blow of the reverse die, a technique characteristic of early Archaic Greek coinage. The ethnic abbreviation K – A, denoting KA(RYSTOS), appears divided on either side of the figure within the incuse square. A small spray of olive leaves is visible in the lower right field. |
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| Additional information |
Carystus, situated at the southern tip of Euboea, was among the Greek cities that sided with the Persians during Xerxes' invasion — a collaboration that earned it a punitive Athenian expedition in 472 BC under the terms of the Delian League. The city was subsequently forced into the League as a tribute-paying member, stripping it of the autonomy that had made independent silver coinage politically meaningful in the first place.
The BCD collection reference places this piece within one of the most carefully documented Euboean hoards assembled in modern times, the lifetime work of a single anonymous collector whose attributions remain the field standard.