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Hemidrachm Argos
| Issuer | Achaean League |
|---|---|
| Year | 195 BC - 188 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing left, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with detailed hair and beard. The facial features are boldly struck, with a prominent brow and naturalistic musculature characteristic of late Classical Greek coinage. The laurel wreath is visible around the head, and the coin's irregular flan is typical of hand-struck issues of the Achaean League. |
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| Reverse description | Central monogram of the Achaean League enclosed within a laurel wreath, with a secondary monogram appearing above the main device. Below the central monogram, a wolf's head faces right, serving as the civic symbol of Argos. The laurel wreath border is rendered with individual leaves and berries, framing the design in a manner consistent with Achaean League federal coinage of the late 3rd to early 2nd century BC. |
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| Additional information |
The Achaean League's hemidrachm coinage was issued during one of the most politically volatile stretches in the confederation's history — the years bracketing Rome's war against Nabis of Sparta and the subsequent conflict with the Aetolians. Argos had only recently been detached from Macedonian and then Spartan control before being absorbed into the League, and its mint's participation in the federal coinage reflects that newly regularized political status.
BCD 1130 places this piece within a tightly sequenced die study of the Argive federal issues. The BCD collection's Peloponnesos material, catalogued at auction by Leu in 2006–2009, remains the primary reference for sequencing these hemidrachms by die linkage.