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Obol - Datames
| Issuer | Cilicia, Satrapy of |
|---|---|
| Year | 384 BC - 360 BC |
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| Currency | Drachm (550-330 BCE) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Bearded male head in right profile, identified as the satrap Datames, wearing a crested helmet with a distinctive angular visor and elaborate plume. The portrait displays fine engraving with carefully rendered curling beard and hair locks visible beneath the helmet, executed in a Greco-Persian artistic style. The design is enclosed within a dotted border on an irregular hammered flan. |
| Reverse script | Aramaic |
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| Additional information |
Datames served as satrap of Cilicia under the Achaemenid crown before defecting and leading one of the most sustained revolts of the so-called Satraps' Rebellion in the 360s BC. He managed to hold out against Persian forces longer than any other rebel satrap, which makes his coinage — struck in his own name rather than the king's — a direct act of political declaration. He was eventually assassinated around 362 BC through a conspiracy allegedly engineered by Artabazus.
The SNG France specimens catalogued at 278–281 show variation consistent with multiple working dies, unsurprising for a provincial mint operating under wartime pressure.