Hemidrachm

Obverse description	Facing gorgoneion (Medusa head) depicted in archaic style, rendered full-face at center, with wide staring eyes, broad nose, and protruding tongue flanked by tusks. Coiling serpents frame the head on either side, their bodies intertwining around the periphery of the flan. The relief is bold and deeply struck, characteristic of the archaizing artistic tradition employed at Parion during the late Classical period.
Obverse script	Log in to see details
Obverse lettering	Log in to see details
Reverse description	Log in to see details
Reverse script	Log in to see details
Reverse lettering	Log in to see details
Edge	Log in to see details
Mint	Log in to see details
Mintage	ND (350 BC - 300 BC) - - ND (-300) - (fr) Variété avec le boeuf marchant sur un épi de blé. - ND (-300) - (fr) Variété avec un thêta au revers. -
Additional information	Parion, the Mysian Greek colony on the eastern shore of the Propontis, struck hemidrachms of this type through much of the fourth century using a facing-gorgoneion obverse type that the city had maintained with unusual conservatism for generations. The type persisted long after most Greek mints had abandoned archaic facing heads, suggesting deliberate civic identity rather than artistic lag. The colony's position on the Propontis gave it outsized commercial relevance relative to its size, sitting astride the sea lane connecting the Aegean to the Black Sea grain trade.