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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Rhodes |
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| Year | 408 BC - 400 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Hammered, Incuse |
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| Obverse description | Facing head of Helios, the sun god and patron deity of Rhodes, rendered in fine early Classical style with the face presented three-quarters to slightly facing. The radiate locks of hair fan outward around the head in bold, deeply engraved waves, conveying the solar rays characteristic of the deity. The facial features are rendered with naturalistic precision, including almond-shaped eyes, a straight nose, and subtly parted lips. No legend appears in the field. The overall composition fills the flan with sculptural confidence typical of the Rhodian mint at the close of the fifth century BC. |
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| Mint | Rhodes |
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| Additional information |
Rhodes reorganized its coinage immediately after the synoikism of 408 BC, when the three older city-states of Ialysos, Kamiros, and Lindos merged to found the new city of Rhodes. This tetradrachm belongs to the first years of that unified civic identity, struck while the new capital was still under construction on the northern tip of the island. The Rhodians adopted a weight standard slightly below the Attic, a deliberate choice that eased trade with neighboring Anatolian markets without fully aligning with Athenian commercial dominance.
Ashton's die study identified this type as among the earliest of the new mint's output, with relatively few obverse dies known.