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Siglos
| Issuer | Uncertain Cypriot city |
|---|---|
| Year | 515 BC - 485 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Incuse square field containing a figure, likely a seated or crouching deity or royal personage, rendered in low relief within a recessed rectangular incuse punch divided by a horizontal line. The upper portion of the incuse displays the main figural device, while the lower register contains a Cypriot syllabic inscription. The deeply recessed incuse is characteristic of early Cypriot silver coinage of the archaic period, created by the application of a punch die to the reverse. The design reflects the transitional artistic influences of both Near Eastern and Greek traditions present in Cypriot numismatic art of this era. |
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| Mintage | ND (515 BC - 485 BC) |
| Additional information |
Cyprus in the late sixth and early fifth centuries BC operated under a patchwork of semi-autonomous city-kingdoms — Salamis, Paphos, Kition, Amathus, and others — each issuing their own coinage while nominally subject first to Egypt, then to Persia following Cambyses' conquest of 525 BC. The attribution "uncertain Cypriot city" is not evasion; several of these mints shared enough iconographic conventions that firm assignment remains contested after more than a century of scholarship.
The siglos weight standard in use here reflects Persian influence on the island's monetary system during the Achaemenid period, though Cypriot mints retained striking independence that mainland satrapies did not.