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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Tenedos (Troad) |
|---|---|
| Year | 100 BC - 70 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Janiform double effigy rendered as two conjoined facing busts seen in opposite profile: to the left, a laureate and bearded head of Zeus, and to the right, a diademed head of Hera. The two heads share a common neck, a distinctive iconographic convention long associated with the coinage of Tenedos. The modeling is bold and naturalistic, characteristic of late Hellenistic die-cutting, with careful attention to the deity's attributes — the laurel wreath of Zeus and the royal diadem of Hera — clearly articulated in relief. |
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| Reverse description | A large double-headed axe (labrys), the principal civic emblem of Tenedos, is depicted upright and centrally placed in the field. Flanking the handle are two secondary symbols: to the left, a hanging bunch of grapes, and to the right, a tripod. Above the axe head, the ethnic legend ΤΕΝΕΔΙΩΝ is inscribed in Greek characters. The entire composition is enclosed within a plain olive wreath that frames the full reverse field, enhancing the formal, emblematic character of the design. |
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| Additional information |
Tenedos controlled one of the most strategically valuable anchorages in the ancient world — the island sits directly at the mouth of the Hellespont, and every fleet moving between the Aegean and the Black Sea passed within sight of it. The island's coinage in this late period reflects its continued commercial relevance even as Pergamene and then Roman power restructured the economies of the region following the bequest of Attalos III in 133 BC.
The Callataÿ reference going unassigned suggests this specimen either lacks a die match in the corpus or represents an unpublished pairing — worth noting for any future die-study contribution to the series.