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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Mende (Macedon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 460 BC - 423 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Dionysus, the god of wine, reclines languidly on the back of a walking ass, his body turned toward the viewer; he holds a cantharus (wine cup) in his extended right hand. A dog rears up on its hind legs beneath the ass, while to the right a bird perches upon a bare, leafless stump. The composition is rendered in a lively archaic-classical style characteristic of northern Greek coinage of the fifth century BC, with considerable attention given to the naturalistic depiction of the figures in the open field. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Mende was one of the most prosperous Greek colonies on the Chalcidice peninsula, its wealth built almost entirely on wine exports — Mendaean wine was among the most expensive in the ancient Mediterranean market and was traded as far as Egypt and the Black Sea. The city's tetradrachms circulated widely as a direct consequence of that commercial reach, functioning as a trusted trade currency rather than purely civic coinage.
The ANS specimen referenced as SNG ANS 7#343 places this type firmly within the mature phase of Mendaean coinage before the city's political absorption accelerated under Macedonian pressure in the late fifth century.