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Hemidrachm Tegea
| Issuer | Arcadian League |
|---|---|
| Year | 460 BC - 450 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hemidrachm (1/2) |
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| 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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| Obverse description | Zeus Lykaios enthroned right, his draped figure rendered in archaic style, holding a long scepter in his left hand while an eagle takes flight leftward from his extended right hand. The composition reflects early classical Greek die-cutting associated with the Arcadian federal coinage, with the deity depicted in a static, frontal-throne posture. The field is plain with no exergue inscription. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
The Arcadian League coinage of the mid-fifth century BC was a rare early experiment in federal Greek minting — one of the first instances of poleis surrendering individual civic coinage identity in favor of a shared federal type. Tegea, one of the more powerful Arcadian cities and home to a major sanctuary of Athena Alea, contributed substantially to this federal output. The hemidrachm denomination served inter-regional trade at a fractional level appropriate to Arcadian market activity, which was more pastoral than mercantile.
Williams's die study remains the essential reference for sorting this complex series by emission sequence.