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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Kyrene |
|---|---|
| Year | 525 BC - 480 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Incuse square punch of quadripartite design set within a recessed rectangular frame, a hallmark of early archaic Greek coinage technique. Within the incuse square, a pattern of raised pellets and intersecting diagonal lines forms a star or floral arrangement, creating a decorative mill-sail motif. The surrounding border of the incuse square is clearly defined, and scattered pellets appear within the subdivided compartments. The surface is deeply recessed relative to the coin's edge, reflecting the characteristic incuse reverse technique employed in Kyrenaean coinage of the late sixth and early fifth centuries BC. |
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| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Kyrene |
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| Additional information |
Kyrene's silver coinage emerged directly from its role as the ancient world's dominant source of silphium, the now-extinct plant whose export made the city one of the wealthiest in North Africa. The Battiad dynasty, which ruled Kyrene through this period, controlled silphium as a near-monopoly commodity — Roman sources later priced it by weight against silver. These tetradrachms were almost certainly instruments of that trade.
The Aiginetan weight standard used here, rather than the Attic, reflects Kyrene's commercial alignment with the Peloponnese and Aegean rather than Athens.