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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Mende (Macedon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 430 BC - 410 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetradrachm (4) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Dionysus, bearded and ivy-wreathed, reclines in a relaxed posture to the right upon the back of a walking ass, his left hand grasping a cantharus (wine cup) while his right arm drapes loosely along the animal's neck. The god's figure is rendered with vigorous three-quarter perspective, conveying a sense of inebriated ease characteristic of the finest fifth-century Macedonian die-cutting. The ass is depicted in a lively walking stance, its head turned back toward the viewer. The entire composition is set within a beaded border, the irregular flan lending the piece a robust, archaic character. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Mende was among the most prosperous poleis on the Chalcidic peninsula, its wealth built almost entirely on wine exports — ancient sources, including Thucydides, note the exceptional reputation of Mendean wine across the Aegean world. The city's coinage circulated well beyond Macedonia, turning up in hoards from Egypt to the Black Sea littoral, carried by the same trade networks that moved its amphorae.
The Noe sequence for Mende remains the foundational die study, though subsequent SNG volumes have refined the attribution of individual specimens. This piece falls within the transitional phase of the type, after the archaic conventions softened but before Macedonian political pressure began to alter the region's minting autonomy following Olynthian consolidation.