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Hemiobol
| Issuer | Methymna (Lesbos) |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 460 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hemiobol (1⁄12) |
| 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 |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing head of a bearded male, rendered in archaic style with broad, stylized facial features characteristic of early fifth-century BC Greek coinage. The visage is depicted frontally, with a full beard rendered in a series of fine horizontal ridges and large, almond-shaped eyes. The hair is indicated by a row of small curls or incised lines framing the forehead. The design fills the entire flan, which is irregular in outline due to the hand-struck hammered technique. The overall treatment is bold and deeply struck, consistent with the archaizing artistic conventions of Lesbian mint production. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Methymna was the second city of Lesbos, perpetually in the shadow of Mytilene yet independently minded enough to maintain its own coinage through the early Classical period. This fractional issue belongs to a moment before the island's poleis consolidated under Athenian imperial pressure following the Delian League's formation — after which local silver coinage across the Aegean contracted sharply or ceased altogether.
At 0.24 g, the coin was a working denomination, not a prestige piece. The die-cutters working at this scale were doing something technically demanding for the period.