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Stater
| Issuer | Praisos |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | Figure of Heracles (attributed) depicted in dynamic kneeling pose to right, the hero rendered in archaic relief style with legs bent and body turned, drawing a bow with arrow at full extension. The robust figure displays characteristic Cretan artistic conventions of the period, with musculature suggested in the hammered relief. No legend or inscription appears in the field. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, typical of Cretan coinage of the mid-fourth century BC. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A dove in flight to the right, wings outstretched, rendered within a linear square border that is itself set within a recessed incuse square. The bird is depicted with considerable naturalistic detail, its tail and wing feathers clearly articulated in the relief. The incuse square, a hallmark of early Cretan coinage technique, provides a geometric frame contrasting with the organic form of the dove. The field within the linear square is plain, with no inscription or additional devices. |
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| Additional information |
Praisos was among the last strongholds of the Eteocretans — the pre-Greek indigenous population of Crete — and its coinage reflects a community that resisted Hellenic cultural absorption longer than virtually any other on the island. The city was ultimately destroyed by Hierapytna around 145 BC, leaving its numismatic output confined to a relatively narrow window. Svoronos remains the foundational reference for Cretan coinage, and attribution within his sequence for Praisos is complicated by the small number of dies identified for this issuer.