Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Mende |
|---|---|
| Year | 430 BC - 423 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 17.18 g |
| 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 |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Dionysus, nude, reclines in a sybaritic pose astride a walking mule to the right, his body turned toward the viewer; he holds a kantharos (wine cup) aloft in his right hand, the vessel rendered in fine relief above the animal's back. The god's himation drapes loosely beneath him, and a grapevine or foliage appears in the upper field. The scene is executed in high relief with vigorous, naturalistic modeling characteristic of the mature Classical style of northern Greek coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Greek |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Mende, a colony of Eretria on the Chalcidice peninsula, was among the most prolific wine exporters in the Aegean world, and its coinage circulated widely as a direct consequence of that trade. The dating of this issue to the 420s BC places it squarely within the period of Athenian military pressure on the Chalcidice — Mende briefly defected to Brasidas in 423 BC before being retaken by Nicias, an event that almost certainly disrupted civic minting.
The Jameson and Gulbenkian references are among the most authoritative die-study anchors for this series, and the convergence of five major references on a single type signals a well-documented specimen rather than a peripheral variety.