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Stater
| Issuer | Ambrakia |
|---|---|
| Year | 426 BC - 404 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Silver Stater (3) |
| 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 |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | 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 |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | A |
| Reverse description | Helmeted head of Athena facing left, wearing a Corinthian helmet pushed back on the head to reveal the face in fine profile relief. The hair emerges beneath the helmet in wavy locks, and a large spherical earring is visible at the ear. A small owl, the emblem of Athena, stands facing to the right in the field to the right of the goddess, serving as a secondary type. The overall style is characteristic of the finest Ambrakian die-cutting of the late fifth century BC. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Ambrakia was a Corinthian colony on the Ambracian Gulf, and its silver coinage follows the Corinthian standard closely enough that attribution sometimes requires careful die study. The city backed Sparta during the Peloponnesian War, and the catastrophic Ambraciot defeat at the Battle of Idomene in 426 BC — in which Thucydides reports the city lost so many men it nearly ceased to function as a polis — falls precisely at the opening boundary of this issue's production window.
The Ravel and McClean references remain the authoritative die corpora for this series; Pegasi #39 cross-references confirm the specific obverse die pairing.