| Mô tả mặt trước |
A raised linear square border with hatched or striated inner margins frames the central device. Within this border, a smaller raised square is set at 45 degrees to the outer frame, creating a lozenge-like effect. Upon this rotated inner square rests a central raised pellet or boss. The geometric composition is strictly abstract and aniconic, characteristic of the earliest Ionian electrum coinage, with the entire design executed in low relief against a plain field. |
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| Mô tả mặt sau |
A single plain incuse square punch occupies the entire reverse, deeply impressed into the flan with irregular but sharply defined walls, the result of a simple quadrilateral punch strike. The incuse cavity is unadorned and devoid of any subsidiary design or legend, consistent with archaic Ionian minting practice of the late 7th century BC. The surface within the punch shows faint striations from the hammering process. |
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| Cạnh |
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| Xưởng đúc |
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Electrum hemistaters from uncertain Ionian mints sit at the very beginning of coined money — these issues predate any standardized civic coinage and were almost certainly produced under the authority of local dynasts or merchant consortia rather than a recognizable polis. The Lydian and East Greek tradition of working native electrum, an alloy of gold and silver occurring naturally in the river Pactolus, made precise weight control difficult; individual pieces from this period routinely vary by fractions that would be unacceptable a century later.
The BMC Greek attribution reflects how little is settled about these earliest issues. Scholarly consensus has shifted repeatedly since Head's original classification.