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Hemidrachm Dot H/Torch
| Issuer | Cherronesos (Thrace) |
|---|---|
| Year | 357 BC - 320 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | McClean#4124 type#6509 3.2#1437 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four triangular quarters by diagonal lines, with alternating raised and sunken sections in the standard Chersonesean pattern. In one sunken quarter, a pellet appears below the letter H (eta), serving as a mint control mark; in the diagonally opposite sunken quarter, a race torch is depicted as a secondary control symbol. The raised quarters display a granular or striated surface texture typical of the hammered technique. No legend is present. |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (357 BC - 320 BC) |
| Additional information |
Cherronesos — the narrow peninsula separating the Aegean from the Propontis — controlled one of the most strategically vital straits in the ancient world, and its hemidrachms circulated so widely across Thrace and the Black Sea region that they became a de facto trade currency far beyond civic borders. The dot H and torch combination serves as a control mark, one of dozens used across the series to distinguish individual dies or issuing magistrates, though the administrative logic behind the Cherronesian control system remains only partially understood.
The series spans a period that saw Philip II of Macedon seize the peninsula in 338 BC — a conquest driven precisely by its commercial and military value.