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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Phaistos (Crete (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 330 BC - 320 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.85 g |
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| Obverse description | Youthful male head, identified as Herakles, facing left in three-quarter profile, wearing a wreath of ivy or laurel rendered as a beaded garland encircling the hair. The hair is depicted in short, curling locks swept back from the brow and gathered at the nape. The modelling of the facial features — almond-shaped eye, defined nose and lips — reflects the refined late Classical style characteristic of Cretan coinage of the period. A dotted border frames the design around the periphery of the flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Bucranium (bull's head) shown en face, with prominent curved horns extending to either side and finely rendered facial musculature. A row of pellets or a beaded wreath border frames the lower portion of the design, while the upper field is largely plain. The frontal presentation of the bull's head is a hallmark type of the Cretan city of Phaistos, evoking the mythological associations of the bull with Minoan religious tradition. The design is boldly struck in high relief despite the small flan, consistent with Aeginetic-weight hemidrachm coinage of the late 4th century BC. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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