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!
Didrachm - Magas
| Issuer | Kyrene (Kyrenaica) |
|---|---|
| Year | 300 BC - 275 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Didrachm (2) |
| 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 | Youthful male head, identified as Apollo or the deified Alexander the Great, depicted in three-quarter facing view turned slightly to the left, filling the entire field. The subject displays finely modelled facial features with well-defined brow and lips, framed by a profusion of thick, wavy curls rendered in high relief. A diadem or wreath ornament is visible among the locks above the forehead, characteristic of the Cyrenaican royal coinage issued under Magas. The portrait is executed in the Hellenistic style, combining idealized beauty with individualized realism typical of the early third century BC. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Magas served as governor of Kyrene under the Ptolemaic crown before declaring himself king around 276 BC — a rebellion against his half-brother Ptolemy II that triggered a prolonged but ultimately inconclusive war. This didrachm falls within that contested transition, struck by an administration increasingly asserting independence from Alexandria while still operating within a monetary tradition shaped by Ptolemaic weight standards. The city's silver coinage had long benefited from the enormous wealth generated by silphium exports, the plant's near-monopoly making Kyrene one of the wealthiest poleis in the Mediterranean world.