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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Mende (Macedon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 460 BC - 423 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Within a shallow incuse square, a linear inner border frames a stylized grapevine bearing five clusters of grapes, the vine rising from a central trunk with spreading branches rendered in a formal, decorative manner. The Greek ethnic legend ΜΕΝΔΑΙΟΝ is distributed in the field around the vine, reading vertically and horizontally along the borders of the linear square. The incuse technique and bold relief of the vine motif are hallmarks of late Archaic Greek coinage from the Chalcidian region. |
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| Mintage | ND (460 BC - 423 BC) |
| Additional information |
Mende, a Chalcidian colony on the western prong of the Chalkidike peninsula, was prosperous enough in the fifth century BC to strike silver on the Thraco-Macedonian weight standard — heavier than the Attic standard then spreading across the Aegean. That prosperity came almost entirely from wine: Mendaean wine was exported across the Mediterranean world and referenced by Aristophanes, and the city's commercial reach gave it both the silver supply and the trading partners to sustain a serious coinage.
The Noe 38 attribution places this piece within a tightly sequenced die study that remains the primary reference for the series.