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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Abydos |
|---|---|
| Year | 175 BC - 75 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 | Draped bust of Artemis facing right, her flowing hair adorned with a laurel wreath and a quiver visible over her shoulder, the bow strap crossing diagonally across her chest. The portrait is rendered in fine Hellenistic style with naturalistic facial features and carefully detailed drapery. A beaded border encircles the field. The goddess is depicted in the tradition of the Pergamene school, with particular attention to the rendering of the hair and hunting attributes. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | ΑΒΗ ΔΗ ΝΩΝ ΜΕΝΕΔΗΜΟΥ |
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| Additional information |
Abydos, positioned at the narrowest point of the Hellespont, controlled one of the most strategically critical toll-crossing points in the ancient world, and its civic coinage reflects a city that needed to assert independent identity while operating in the shadow of successive Hellenistic powers — first Seleucid, then increasingly under Pergamene and later Roman influence. The century-long span of this type's production traces that uneasy autonomy.
The BMC Greek 52 reference places this firmly within the autonomous civic issues rather than any imperial or royal series, a distinction that matters for provenance tracking given how frequently Abydene types circulated alongside Attic-weight coins of neighboring Propontis mints.