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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Cherronesos |
|---|---|
| Year | 386 BC - 338 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of a lion in high relief, advancing to right with head turned back to face left, mouth open and tongue protruding in a snarling attitude. The mane is rendered in detailed, radiating striations, and the musculature of the forequarters is boldly modelled. The figure fills the broad, unlettered field within a circular border, exhibiting the vigorous naturalistic style characteristic of Chersonesos coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | A |
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| Additional information |
Chersonesos, the Thracian peninsula colony, produced these hemidrachms in enormous quantities over roughly five decades — they became the dominant fractional silver currency across much of the Black Sea trade network. So widely circulated were they that examples turn up in hoards from Egypt to the Danube, often far outnumbering local issues. The four incuse squares on the reverse vary in their arrangement across dies, and cataloguers have identified well over a hundred distinct obverse dies, suggesting near-continuous production.
BMC Greek #17 places this piece within the later sequence, after Macedonian pressure on the Chersonese intensified under Philip II.