Catalog
Hemidrachm - Diokles
| Issuer | Priene (Ionia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 1 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.05 g |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in fine Hellenistic style with richly wavy, layered hair swept back from the brow and curling behind the neck. The facial features are boldly modelled with a prominent nose, full lips, and a strong jawline. The laurel wreath is visible above the forehead, consistent with standard Prienic iconographic convention for this deity. The flan is irregular with a slightly porous surface texture typical of Ionian silver coinage of the late Hellenistic period. No legend appears on the obverse. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ΠΡΙΗ ΔΙΟΚΛΗΣ |
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| Additional information |
Priene's civic coinage was tightly tied to the city's administrative magistrate system, with the issuing official's name — here Diokles — stamped as a form of institutional accountability rather than personal commemoration. The city itself had been refounded at its current inland site in the fourth century BC after the original coastal settlement was rendered inaccessible by silting from the Maeander river, a geographic problem that would eventually strangle Priene's commercial relevance entirely.
The hemidrachm denomination saw continued use in Ionia long after larger silver issues became impractical under shifting Seleucid and later Attalid economic pressures.