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Drachm
| Issuer | Eretria |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 465 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | Octopus depicted with bulbous head uppermost and eight sinuously curled arms radiating outward, all contained within a deeply recessed incuse square of quadripartite form. The design is boldly executed in the archaic convention of Greek coinage from Euboea, with the tentacles rendered in a stylised, symmetrical arrangement against the flat incuse field. |
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| Additional information |
Eretria's coinage of this period reflects a city at or near the height of its regional influence — before the Persian sack of 490 BC interrupted production and scattered much of its population to Persia as prisoners. Whether this particular issue predates or postdates that destruction is the central question for dating within the series, and numismatists have argued the point on die-link and hoard evidence for decades without consensus.
The BCD collection specimen (BCD Euboia 319) provided the most precise die documentation available for this type when the Lanz sale catalogued it in 2006.