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Drachm
| Issuer | Kalchedon |
|---|---|
| Year | 480 BC - 460 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.49 g |
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| Obverse description | Bearded male head facing left, wearing a diadem rendered as a beaded band across the brow, with finely engraved striated hair swept back from the face. The beard is rendered in precise parallel striations in the Archaic Greek style, with a full, rounded form. The portrait displays the characteristic almond-shaped eye and stylized musculature of early classical Greek coinage from Bithynia. The effigy fills the coin's flan, with no legend or border present in the field. |
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| Mint | Kalchedon (Bithynia) |
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| Additional information |
Kalchedon, the Megarian colony planted on the Asian shore of the Bosporus opposite Byzantium, controlled one of the most strategically valuable toll points in the ancient world — every grain ship moving from the Black Sea to the Aegean passed within hailing distance. This drachm falls squarely within the period of Persian withdrawal from the region following Salamis and Plataea, when Bosporan cities reasserted commercial independence with renewed minting activity.
The SNG von Aulock specimen underpins most attributions for this type, the collection having been assembled with particular depth in Bithynian and Pontic issues.