Tetradrachm

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.