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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Cherronesos |
|---|---|
| Year | 386 BC - 338 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Forepart of a lion to the right in high relief, with head turned back to face the viewer en face, jaws open and tongue extended. The mane is rendered in fine engraved detail, and the muscular forequarters are depicted in a bold, archaic style characteristic of Chersonesos coinage. The figure is set within a plain round field on an irregular flan. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four triangular sections by two perpendicular lines, with alternating raised and sunken quarters. The upper-left quarter contains a lion's scalp in relief, depicted facing, with stylized mane. The lower-right quarter bears a pellet. This characteristic reverse type with its varying symbols served as a control mark and is diagnostic of the Chersonesos hemidrachm series. |
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| Additional information |
Chersonesos — the Thracian peninsula city, not to be confused with the Crimean settlement of the same name — produced these hemidrachms in enormous quantities over several decades, making them among the most widely circulated fractional silver coins in the northern Aegean. Their prolonged production without significant design variation created a paradox familiar to specialists: high survival rates but persistent difficulty in precise attribution, since individual issues blend into one another across the type's long run.
The city sat astride critical grain routes connecting the Black Sea to Athens, giving it commercial leverage well beyond its modest size. Philip II's campaign into Thrace during the 340s BC directly threatened that position, and Chersonesos became a flashpoint in Athenian-Macedonian tensions before Philip's absorption of the region ended the city's independent coinage entirely.