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Diobol
| Issuer | Knidos |
|---|---|
| Year | 404 BC - 395 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.71 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Draped bust of Aphrodite facing right, her hair bound in an ampyx (frontal diadem band) and enclosed within a sakkos (cloth cap), rendered in fine archaic style. The entire design is set within a recessed incuse square, a hallmark of early Greek hammered coinage. The ethnic inscription KNIΔION appears below the portrait, identifying the issuing city of Knidos in Caria. The relief is crisp and the portrait exhibits the stylized elegance typical of Knidian silver coinage of the early classical period. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | KNIΔION |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Knidos occupied a strategically commanding position at the tip of the Carian peninsula, and its mint was active precisely when the city's political fortunes were shifting under pressure from both Spartan hegemony and Persian interference in Aegean affairs. The decade bracketed by these dates saw the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War and the opening moves of the Corinthian War — Knidos itself the site of a decisive naval battle in 394 BC in which the Spartan fleet under Peisander was destroyed by the Persian-backed forces of Konon.
The "cf." citations against both SNG Copenhagen and SNG Keckman suggest this piece shares type but diverges in detail — likely a die or control mark variant not precisely matched in either corpus.