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Drachm - Arbinas Telmessos
| Issuer | Dynasts of Lycia (Achaemenid Satrapies) |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 390 BC |
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| Value | Drachm (1) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of Athena in three-quarter facing right, wearing a crested Attic helmet with cheek-guards and a long crest flowing to the rear; the facial features are rendered with fine archaic-transitional style characteristic of Lycian coinage of the early fourth century BC. The neck and cheek-guard details are carefully articulated, with curling locks of hair visible beneath the helmet rim. No legend or inscription appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Arbinas ruled Lycia as a dynast under loose Achaemenid suzerainty during the early fourth century, but the degree of his actual subordination to Persia remains debated — his coinage, struck at Telmessos on the western Lycian coast, reflects a distinctly local identity rather than any Persian imperial template. Telmessos was geographically and culturally semi-detached from the Lycian heartland, which may explain why issues from this mint show iconographic divergence from the dominant Xanthos series.
The Müseler VI classification places this among the rarer dynastic emissions of the period.