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Stater - 107th Olympiad
| Issuer | Olympia |
|---|---|
| Year | 352 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Stater = 3 Drachm |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Zeus facing left, rendered in fine archaic-to-classical style. To the right of the portrait, a vertical thunderbolt with spread wings at the top and volutes at the base occupies the field, serving as a divine attribute of the deity. The portrait exhibits carefully engraved hair locks beneath the wreath and a strong, idealized facial profile characteristic of Elean coinage of the mid-fourth century BC. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | An eagle with closed wings stands in profile to the right atop an Ionic capital, its talons gripping the architectural element with naturalistic precision. The Greek letters F (digamma) and A flank the eagle to the left and right respectively in the field, representing the ethnic abbreviation of Elis (FА = FAΛEION). The bold, well-modelled figure of the eagle, sacred bird of Zeus, dominates the flan, conveying divine authority in keeping with the sanctuary coinage of Olympia. The Ionic capital below provides a distinctive architectural motif unique to this series. |
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| Additional information |
Struck at Elis to commemorate the 107th Olympiad, this stater belongs to a series issued specifically in Olympic years — quadrennially — by the sanctuary administration at Olympia rather than by a civic mint in the conventional sense. The games of 352 BC fell during a period of sustained Macedonian expansion under Philip II, whose interference in Greek affairs was already reshaping the political arithmetic of the Peloponnese. Elis maintained formal control of the sanctuary throughout, but the pressures on that autonomy were mounting.
HGC 5#374 is among the better-documented types in the Olympic stater series, though die studies suggest output was deliberately limited to festival use.