Catalog
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| Issuer | Phokaia |
|---|---|
| Year | 625 BC - 522 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| 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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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Bodenstedt Em. 1-3; SNG von Aulock 2111 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Phokaia's early electrum coinage predates the city's catastrophic abandonment in 546 BC, when its citizens chose mass emigration over submission to the Persian-backed siege of Harpagos. The natural electrum used here — alluvial gold-silver alloy sourced almost certainly from the Pactolus river valley trade network — has a variable gold content across specimens, which is why Bodenstedt's emissions classifications remain the primary tool for attributing these pieces: the electrum composition itself shifts enough between dies to complicate authentication without comparative analysis.