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Stater
| Issuer | Priansos (Crete (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 320 BC - 270 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Enthroned female deity, identified as Demeter or Persephone, depicted seated to the left with her head turned to face the viewer. Her right hand extends toward an erect serpent rising before her, a motif strongly associated with chthonic and agrarian cult worship. A palm tree rises prominently in the right field behind the figure, serving as a secondary symbolic element. The composition is rendered in the Hellenistic style typical of Cretan coinage of the early third century BC, with careful attention to the drapery of the seated figure and the naturalistic treatment of the serpent. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Priansos was a minor Cretan polis whose precise location remains debated — most scholars place it in the Mesara plain, possibly near modern Prinias, though the identification is not universally settled. The city issued coins during a period when Cretan minting was intensely competitive and politically fragmented, with dozens of small city-states producing silver on the Aeginetan weight standard to assert civic identity and fund mercenary obligations. Cretan soldiers were among the most sought-after mercenaries in the Hellenistic world, and local coinage frequently served as pay.
The Priansos stater series is short — SNG Copenhagen records only a handful of specimens — and the city disappears from the historical record entirely by the late third century BC.