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Hexachalkon
| Issuer | Patrai |
|---|---|
| Year | 51 BC - 30 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Diademed and draped bust of Queen Cleopatra VII facing right, her hair elaborately bound and adorned, rendered in the Hellenistic portraiture style. The queen's features are shown in sharp profile with a prominent nose and strong jaw characteristic of Ptolemaic royal iconography. The circular Greek legend ΒΑCΙΛΙCCΑ ΚΛΕΟΠΑΤΡΑ (Queen Cleopatra) runs around the periphery of the field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | A lyre (kithara) depicted centrally in the field, shown facing downward with its soundbox at the base and arms extending upward, rendered in fine relief. The lyre is a symbol associated with Apollo, the patron deity of Patrai. The partial Greek legend ΑΓΙΑC is inscribed in the field to the right, with additional lettering visible around the periphery of the coin. |
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| Additional information |
Patrai — the city Rome would later refound as the veteran colony Colonia Aroe Augusta Patrensis under Augustus in 14 BC — struck bronze in its own name during precisely this window of waning civic autonomy. The hexachalkon denomination placed it at six chalkoi, the lowest tier of practical daily exchange in Achaean markets. Issues from this terminal period of the independent city are sparsely documented, and BCD 531 represents one of the more carefully provenanced specimens from what is a genuinely thin series.