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Tetradrachm - Blosys
| Issuer | Abdera |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 425 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Quadripartite incuse square divided into four triangular sections by raised diagonal ridges, forming the characteristic mill-sail pattern of Abderan silver coinage. The Greek legend naming the magistrate Blosys is disposed around the central raised square, reading ΕΠΙ ΒΛΟΣΥΟΣ. The entire composition is set within a shallow outer incuse square, a hallmark of the Thraco-Macedonian coinage tradition. The lettering is cleanly engraved in archaic Greek script, distributed in the fields surrounding the incuse. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΕΠΙ ΒΛΟΣΥΟΣ |
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| Additional information |
Abdera's silver tetradrachms of this period are magistrate-signed issues, each naming the local official responsible for the emission — Blosys being one of several eponymous magistrates attested across the mid-fifth century series. The city, a Clazomenian and later Teian colony on the Thracian coast, operated a mint of unusual sophistication for a regional center, producing coins that circulated widely across the northern Aegean trade routes. May's die study remains the essential reference, with #184-185 representing a tightly defined emission within what is a complex and still-debated sequence.