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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Byzantion |
|---|---|
| Year | 416 BC - 357 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | A bull standing left, its head turned back to the right, rendered in high relief in the archaic Greek style characteristic of Thracian Chersonese and Propontic coinage. The animal's muscular body is depicted with considerable naturalistic detail, including a pronounced dewlap and powerful haunches. A dolphin appears below the bull, serving as a civic symbol associated with Byzantion's prominent maritime identity. The legend ΠΥ appears in the field, serving as an abbreviated ethnic identifying the issuing city. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Byzantion's coinage from this period reflects the city's commanding position at the Bosphorus strait, where it extracted tolls from grain ships moving between the Black Sea and the Aegean — a revenue stream significant enough to fund military operations and attract the hostile attention of Philip II of Macedon, who besieged the city in 340 BC. The hemidrachm denomination saw heavy use in small commercial transactions along this corridor.
The SNG Copenhagen and BM Black Sea references place this squarely within the well-documented archaic civic series, though die studies by scholars of Thracian coinage have noted considerable variation in flan preparation across the type.