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Drachm - Krethe
| Issuer | Sinope (Paphlagonia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 330 BC - 300 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 4.82 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle with spread wings stands in profile to the left, perched upon a dolphin oriented horizontally across the field; the eagle's plumage is rendered with fine incised striations. The magistrate's name KPHΘE appears in Greek letters to the upper right of the eagle, while the ethnic ΣΙΝΩ is inscribed in the lower field, identifying the issuing city of Sinope. The composition is characteristic of Sinopean civic coinage of the late fourth century BC. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Sinope was the dominant Greek emporium on the Black Sea's southern coast, controlling trade routes that funneled Pontic grain, dried fish, and cinnabar — the city's most distinctive export — westward into the Aegean economy. The magistrate name Krethe appearing on this issue places it within a series of drachms that used rotating officials as a guarantor of civic coinage, a practice well documented at Sinope across the fourth century.
The city would fall under Mithridatic control within a generation of this coin's striking.