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Drachm
| Issuer | Boeotian League |
|---|---|
| Year | 250 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Silver Drachm (1) |
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| 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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| Obverse description | Facing head of Dionysos, rendered in fine three-quarter view with a slight turn to the left, his long wavy hair bound by an ivy wreath with a prominent leaf visible above the forehead. The modeling of the face is accomplished in the plastic, idealized Hellenistic style, with softly defined features, parted lips, and deeply set eyes. The hair flows freely in thick, undulating locks over the neck and shoulders, filling the field to the coin's edge. No legend or inscription appears on the obverse. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Poseidon standing facing, nude, his weight resting on his right leg, holding a long trident upright in his left hand and extending his right arm outward to present a small dolphin. In the right field, below the dolphin, a Boeotian shield is depicted in low relief with a dotted border, a characteristic federal emblem of the League. The legend ΒΟΙΩΤΩΝ is inscribed vertically along the left field in Greek characters, identifying the issuing authority. The composition is well-centered on a slightly irregular flan typical of hammered production of this period. |
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| Additional information |
The Boeotian League was a federalist experiment that predates most theoretical frameworks for confederate coinage — member poleis retained local identity while the League issued shared federal currency, a political arrangement that collapsed definitively after the Roman destruction of Thebes's rival Corinth in 146 BC forced Boeotia into provincial submission. By the mid-third century, the League had reasserted itself following Macedonian interference, and this drachm belongs to that period of recovered autonomy.
The Weber 3305 reference places this within a well-documented die study sequence.