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Diobol
| Issuer | Uncertain Thraco-macedonian city |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 440 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| 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 | Forepart of a lion advancing to the right, rendered in archaic style with bold, deeply cut relief. The lion's head is shown in three-quarter view, with a strongly modelled muzzle, open jaws, and a pronounced eye rendered as a raised boss. The mane is indicated by a series of incised parallel striations along the neck and shoulder. The flan is small and irregularly shaped, characteristic of early Thraco-Macedonian silver coinage of the archaic period. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Deep square incuse punch divided into four triangular quadrants by two diagonal raised ridges meeting at the centre, forming a rough saltire or windmill pattern within the sunken field. The incuse is sharply cut with slightly uneven walls, consistent with early archaic hammered coinage technique. The surrounding flat border retains a granular surface from the original silver fabric. No inscription or additional device is present. This type of reverse is typical of early Thraco-Macedonian fractional silver issues of the late archaic period. |
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| Additional information |
Thraco-Macedonian tribal and civic coinages of this period are notoriously difficult to attribute with precision — dozens of small issuing authorities were active simultaneously in the region, many minting for only a generation or two before absorption into larger polities. Without a secure attribution, the specific political trigger for this issue remains unknown, though the region's silver came overwhelmingly from the rich ore deposits of Mount Pangaion, the same source that later bankrolled Philip II's military campaigns.