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Hemiobol
| Issuer | Methymna |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 460 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Orientation | Medal alignment ↑↑ |
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| Obverse description | Head of a nymph facing left, her hair bound in a sakkos headdress, rendered in archaic style with schematic facial features characteristic of early fifth-century BC Lesbian coinage. The portrait is depicted in left profile, occupying the majority of the compact flan. The die work, though small in scale, conveys the distinctive cloth cap tied at the nape, a hallmark type of Methymna's early silver issues. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Methymna was one of the six principal cities of Lesbos and a persistent rival to Mytilene, the island's dominant power. That rivalry shaped its coinage: Methymna maintained its own independent mint even as other lesser Lesbian cities deferred to regional monetary conventions. At this fraction — fractional even by archaic Greek standards — the coin would have served hyper-local exchange, likely within the city's immediate market economy rather than interregional trade.
The SNG Copenhagen and BMC references place this among a tightly documented but small group of survivors. Very few Methymnan hemiobols are known.