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Drachm
| Issuer | Kythnos |
|---|---|
| Year | 530 BC - 500 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Drachm (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Boar's head facing right in high relief, rendered in an archaic style characteristic of early Cycladic coinage. The snout is prominent and finely detailed, with a visible tusk and textured surface suggesting bristled skin. The large, deeply set eye is rendered with particular prominence. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, with no legend or inscription in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Rough incuse square divided into four irregular quadrants by a raised cross-shaped partition, typical of early archaic hammered coinage of the late 6th century BC. The incuse is deeply impressed and asymmetrical, with uneven surfaces within each compartment. No legend, symbol, or secondary device is present. The flan edges are irregular, consistent with hand-struck production. |
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| Additional information |
Kythnos, a small Cycladic island with limited agricultural resources, derived unusual economic weight from its silver and lead mines — the same geological luck that funded coinage on Siphnos and, more famously, Athens. This drachm falls within the earliest phase of Cycladic island minting, when local civic issues were proliferating rapidly across the Aegean in the decades following the widespread adoption of coinage from Lydia and Ionia.
The SNG Copenhagen reference range suggests multiple die pairings survive, which is notable for so minor an issuer.