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Hemitetartemorion
| Issuer | Teos |
|---|---|
| Year | 510 BC - 478 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 0.11 g |
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four triangular sections by two intersecting diagonal grooves, forming a windmill or mill-sail pattern within the incuse depression. The incuse is deeply struck and slightly irregular in outline, characteristic of archaic hammered technique on a very small silver flan. The reverse is entirely geometric with no inscriptions or additional devices, consistent with the standard reverse treatment of early Ionian fractional silver coinage of the late sixth to early fifth century BC. |
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| Mint | Teos, Ionia |
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| Additional information |
Teos, an Ionian Greek city on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, was one of the earliest adopters of coinage in the Greek world. This fractional issue dates to a period bracketed by two catastrophes: the failed Ionian Revolt against Persian rule, which ended in 494 BC with the sack of Miletus, and the subsequent submission of Ionian cities to Achaemenid authority. When Persian pressure became intolerable, a significant portion of Teos's population abandoned the city entirely and resettled at Abdera in Thrace — one of the more documented mass emigrations in archaic Greek history.
At roughly a sixteenth of an obol's purchasing power, this denomination served micro-transactions that larger struck metal simply could not.