Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetartemorion
| Issuer | Ephesos |
|---|---|
| Year | 550 BC - 500 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
| 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 |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Eagle's head in profile to right, rendered in incuse relief within an irregular, roughly oval field. The eye is prominently depicted, and the hooked beak is clearly defined, executed in the bold, schematic style typical of archaic Greek coinage from Ionia. The Greek letters Ε and Φ, abbreviating ΕΦΕΣΙΩΝ (of the Ephesians), appear in the field as the civic ethnic of Ephesos. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Ε Φ |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Among the smallest coins ever produced in the ancient world, the Ephesian tetartemorion represents one-quarter of an obol — itself already a fractional denomination. Ephesos was among the earliest cities to adopt coinage, operating in a commercial environment shaped by proximity to Lydian trade networks and the electrum staters that preceded silver fractions like this one. At 0.20 g, these pieces were struck with surprising precision given the technology available, though die alignment and flan preparation were necessarily inconsistent at this scale.