Hemidrachm

Kydonia was one of the oldest cities on Crete's northwest coast, its origins stretching back to Minoan settlement, and by the classical period it operated a sufficiently independent mint to produce a recognizable coinage series despite the island's chronic political fragmentation. The hemidrachm denomination was the workhorse of small regional exchange throughout the Aegean, and Kydonia's issues circulated against competition from the more prolific neighboring cities of Knossos and Gortyna.

The SNG Copenhagen 402 reference places this piece within a well-documented but modestly sized series. Surviving specimens are scarce enough that die studies remain incomplete.