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Tetradrachm
| Issuer | Ephesos |
|---|---|
| Year | 131 BC - 68 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Two intertwined serpents occupy the central field, their sinuous bodies coiling dynamically around one another in a symmetrical composition, their heads raised and facing outward at the top. To the left of the serpents appears the date inscription in Greek letters, rendered in two lines. To the right stands a tall torch, its flame implied by the tapered upper element, a symbol associated with the cult of Artemis of Ephesos. The mint ethnic ΕΦΕ and the date letters identifying the regnal year are inscribed in the left field in bold, well-spaced Greek characters. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΝΔ ΕΦΕ |
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| Additional information |
Ephesos operated as one of the most commercially active minting centers in Asia Minor during the late Hellenistic period, and this series — conventionally dated to the city's time under Seleucid and then Roman provincial oversight — reflects a monetary tradition built around the Attic weight standard that Ephesos adopted to facilitate trade across the Aegean. The type was struck over a span of roughly six decades, which explains the considerable variation in die style and fabric collectors encounter across the series.
By 88 BC, Mithridates VI of Pontus sacked Ephesos and was initially welcomed by its citizens, who massacred some 80,000 Italian residents across Asia Minor at his instruction. Roman retribution reshaped the city's financial administration entirely, and issues struck in the final decades before 68 BC reflect that instability in both declining fabric quality and shrinking flans.