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Drachm
| Issuer | Kyrene |
|---|---|
| Year | 480 BC - 435 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Silphium plant depicted frontally, occupying the full field, with a prominent globular seed-head at the apex composed of multiple rounded nodes. The stem is rendered with fine vertical striations, flanked by two pairs of spreading, curving leaves or branches terminating in small floral or fruit clusters. The naturalistic rendering of this economically prized plant — the primary export of Kyrene — is characteristic of early Classical Cyrenaic coinage. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | K – V – P A (Translation: Kyrene) |
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| Additional information |
Kyrene's economy in the fifth century BC was built almost entirely on silphium, a plant so valuable that the city maintained a state monopoly over its harvest and export. The plant — used across the Mediterranean as a seasoning, medicine, and contraceptive — was considered worth its weight in silver, which makes the mint's output during this period a direct measure of that trade's prosperity. By the late fifth century, overharvesting had begun visibly depleting the supply, and the coin types from this transitional period reflect a city still at peak wealth but approaching an ecological cliff it would not recover from.