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Didrachm - Krethes
| Issuer | Naxos (Cyclades) |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 180 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Cratérophores#18 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A wreathed krater set on a tall, slender foot with low lateral handles, rendered in fine relief at the centre of the field. The vessel is depicted with careful attention to its bulbous body and flared rim. To the upper left and left, the ethnic and magistrate's name ΝΑΞΙ and ΚΡΗΘΕ are inscribed in Greek letters. To the right, a thyrsos — the distinctive staff of Dionysos wound with ivy and topped with a pine cone — stands vertically, its ribbons visible along the shaft. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΝΑΞΙ ΚΡΗΘΕ |
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| Additional information |
Naxos was the wealthiest island in the Cyclades through much of antiquity, its silver coinage backed by control of the Aegean marble and wine trades. By the early second century BC, however, the island's political autonomy was increasingly pressured by the shifting allegiances of the Hellenistic successor states. The Krethes issue likely falls within this unsettled period, when local magistrate names on coinage served a practical administrative function as much as any civic statement.
The magistrate name Krethes is attested on only a handful of dies, placing this among the scarcer named issues in the series catalogued by Cratérophores.