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Octodrachm - Getas
| Issuer | Edoni (Thraco-macedonian region) |
|---|---|
| Year | 475 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | A nude herdsman or heroic male figure strides to the right between two bulls, grasping each animal by its horns in a controlling gesture, rendered in high relief in the early Archaic style characteristic of Thraco-Macedonian coinage. The central group is depicted with vigorous naturalism, the bulls shown in profile with muscular bodies finely detailed. The encircling legend ΓΕΤΑ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥ ΗΔΩΝΕΩΝ, identifying king Getas of the Edonians, runs around the field within a border of large beads. The composition fills the flan with remarkable energy, reflecting the artistic influence of contemporary Greek die-engraving workshops active in the northern Aegean region. |
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| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
The Edoni were a Thracian tribe occupying territory around the Strymon River valley, a region saturated with silver from the mines of Mt. Pangaion. These large octodrachms — issued under the chieftain Getas — belong to a burst of tribal coinage from the Thraco-Macedonian region that flourished in the decades before Athenian and later Macedonian power systematically absorbed these polities. Getas himself is otherwise almost invisible in the historical record.
The Traité I#1458 reference places this among the rarest of the tribal octodrachm series. Pangaion silver was commercially significant enough that Athens itself eventually sought control of the region.