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Drachm
| Issuer | Teos |
|---|---|
| Year | 540 BC - 478 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 5.92 g |
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| Obverse description | Griffin seated to right in high relief, the body rendered with finely detailed scale and feather work, the folded wings rising prominently behind. The creature raises its right forepaw, with an eagle-like beaked head turned alertly forward and a characteristic upright knob or flame-shaped protrusion atop the skull. The tail curves upward along the right flank, and the powerful haunches rest on a plain ground line. The design fills the irregular flan with vigorous Archaic style carving, the entire composition set against a lightly textured field. |
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| Mintage | ND (540 BC - 478 BC) |
| Additional information |
Teos was one of the twelve Ionian cities and home to the poet Anacreon, but its coinage history is defined less by culture than by crisis. When the Persian Empire under Cyrus swept through Ionia in the 540s BC, the Teians famously abandoned their city en masse rather than submit — relocating to Abdera on the Thracian coast. Some returned, and the city continued striking silver under what was effectively Persian-tolerated autonomy until the Ionian Revolt of 499–494 BC convulsed the region again.
The Balcer sequence places this issue within the pre-revolt archaic phase, before Persian suppression tightened control over Ionian minting.