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Drachm
| Issuer | Knidos |
|---|---|
| Year | 411 BC - 404 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Draped bust of Aphrodite facing right, her hair elegantly bound in a sphendone adorned with ivy leaves, wearing a plain necklace, with a plain truncation at the base. The portrait is rendered in fine archaic-transitional Greek style with delicate facial features. The entire type is set within a square incuse, a hallmark of early Knidian silver coinage. |
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| Reverse lettering | A |
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| Additional information |
Knidos sat at the southwestern tip of the Karian peninsula, and its position as a major Aegean trading port gave it both the silver supply and the commercial need to maintain a consistent coinage. The dates bracket a turbulent stretch — the final years of the Peloponnesian War, during which Knidos shifted political alignment more than once under pressure from Athens, Sparta, and Persian satrap influence alike.
In 394 BC, a naval battle fought directly off the Knidian headland effectively ended Spartan sea power, though that falls just outside this issue's window. These drachms precede that moment by a decade, struck when Spartan dominance in Aegean waters was still ascendant following Athens' defeat in 404 BC.