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Tetradrachm - Gnosidikos
| Issuer | Kos |
|---|---|
| Year | 280 BC - 250 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Reverse description | A large crab depicted frontally in high relief, with prominently raised claws and splayed legs filling the square incuse field, rendered with exceptional naturalistic detail characteristic of Koan coinage. Above the crab, within a dotted border, the ethnic inscription KΩ-ION is divided to either side. Below the crab, the magistrate's name ΓΝΩΣΙΔΙΚΟΣ is inscribed horizontally. In the lower exergue, a kantharos or similar vessel is visible, serving as an additional symbol. The entire design is contained within a beaded square border set against a plain incuse field. |
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| Additional information |
Kos maintained an independent mint through much of the early Hellenistic period despite sitting squarely within the contested sphere between Ptolemaic Egypt and the Seleucid kingdom. The magistrate name Gnosidikos appearing on this issue places it within a sequence of eponymous magistrate coinage that allows modern scholars to construct a relative chronology for the Koan series, though absolute dates remain debated within roughly the window assigned here.
The island's strategic position in the southeastern Aegean — and its famous sanctuary of Asklepios — gave Kos enough economic weight to sustain civic coinage on its own terms well into the third century.