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Obol
| Issuer | Uncertain Cilician city |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 301 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 10 mm |
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| Obverse description | Facing female head rendered in three-quarter view, turned slightly to the left, with large almond-shaped eyes, finely modeled facial features, and hair elaborately dressed and bound, with loose strands or vegetal sprigs framing the face on either side. The bust is presented in a frontal, near-facing style characteristic of fourth-century Cilician satrapal coinage, exhibiting strong Greco-Persian artistic influence. No legend or inscription appears in the field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A Persian king or heroic figure, wearing the characteristic kidaris (tiara) and kandys (sleeved robe), stands facing right in a combative stance, a bow case (gorytus) suspended at his back. He is depicted in active confrontation with a griffin rearing on its hind legs to the left, the scene conveying a dynamic struggle between man and mythical beast. The entire composition is set within a shallow incuse square, a hallmark of early Achaemenid-era Cilician coinage. No legend or inscription is present. The reverse type reflects the strong Persian cultural and iconographic influence prevalent in Cilician satrapal issues of the fourth century BC. |
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| Additional information |
Cilicia in the fourth century produced a bewildering array of small silver fractionals from civic mints whose identities remain contested or entirely lost. The Sunrise collection, from which this reference derives, assembled one of the most systematic attempts to attribute these issues, yet #107 remains filed under "uncertain" — meaning neither style, fabric, nor die linkage has yet placed it convincingly within a known civic series.
At 0.70g, these obols circulated alongside Persian-influenced coinage during a period when Cilicia operated under Achaemenid satrapal authority before Alexander's campaigns swept through the region after 333 BC.