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 - Anonymous with monogram
| Issuer | Qatabanian Kingdom (Southern Arabia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC - 200 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm (ca. 400 BC – 100 AD) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Helmeted head of Athena facing right, closely imitating the Athenian New Style tetradrachm prototype. The Corinthian-style helmet features a tall crest rendered with stylized parallel ridges, and the cheek guard is partially raised. The neck guard bears an inscription in Ancient South Arabian script. The facial features are rendered in a somewhat provincial style, reflecting local Qatabanian die-cutting traditions adapted from Greek prototypes. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Qataban was one of the incense kingdoms of ancient South Arabia, its wealth built almost entirely on controlling overland trade routes for frankincense and myrrh moving north toward the Mediterranean. These anonymous issues — attributed by monogram rather than royal name — reflect a monetary system still calibrated to Athenian weight standards, almost certainly because Greek merchants dominated the Mediterranean end of the trade and required compatible coinage. The specific monogram recorded under Huth 344 ties the piece to a particular issuing authority within Qataban, though the administrative structure behind that authority remains poorly understood.