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Obol
| Issuer | Kydonia (Crete (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 189 BC - 184 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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| Technique | Hammered |
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| Obverse description | Bare head of the nymph Kydonia, eponymous patroness of the city, depicted in three-quarter profile facing left or right, rendered in the Hellenistic style. The hair is elaborately dressed and bound with a wreath or stephane, with loose tresses falling behind the neck in characteristic Cretan die-cutter fashion. The facial features are delicately modelled, conveying an idealized feminine effigy typical of late Hellenistic Cretan coinage. No legend appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Kydonia — modern Hania, on Crete's northwestern coast — was one of the island's oldest and most persistent minting cities, active intermittently from the fifth century BC well into the Hellenistic period. The tight date range here falls during the years when Rome was consolidating control over the Greek world following Apamea in 188 BC, a settlement that reshuffled power across the Aegean and left Cretan poleis navigating new political pressures largely on their own terms. Kydonia continued issuing fractional silver through this turbulence with remarkable consistency.
The unusually dense reference trail — Svoronos, BMC, Weber, Dewing, and others — reflects sustained scholarly interest in Cretan coinage rather than any particular rarity of this type.