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Tetradrachm - Herakleidas
| Issuer | Damastion (Illyria) |
|---|---|
| Year | 365 BC - 345 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 13.67 g |
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| Obverse description | Youthful male head facing right, laureate with a wreath of leaves adorning the flowing hair, rendered in fine archaic-to-early-classical Greek style. The hair falls in long, carefully engraved wavy locks behind the neck, with the wreath tied above the forehead. The facial features are delicately modeled with a straight profile, almond-shaped eye, and slightly parted lips, conveying idealized Hellenistic beauty. The flan is slightly irregular, characteristic of hand-struck ancient coinage, with the bust occupying the full field. No legend appears on the obverse. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | A tall, ornate tripod occupies the center of the reverse field, rendered in fine detail with three legs terminating in animal-paw feet resting on a ground line, flanked by the Greek inscription. The legend ΗΡΑΚΛΕΙΔΟ is distributed around the upper and right portion of the field, while the ethnic or magistrate abbreviation KH appears to the right; a partial inscription reading ΗΡΑΚΛ is visible along the lower register. The tripod, a sacred symbol of Apollo and frequently used as a type on Macedonian and Illyrian silver coinage, is depicted with a cauldron bowl surmounted by decorative elements. The design fills the flan fully, with the legend arranged in the field around the central device in the manner typical of Damastion silver issues. |
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| Additional information |
Damastion was a silver-mining community in the mountainous interior of Illyria whose coins circulated primarily as a trade currency among Balkan tribes and Greek merchant networks — the city itself remains unlocated archaeologically. The Herakleidas issues represent one of the later magistrate-signed series from the mint, placed near the terminal phase of Damastion's coinage before the region fell under Macedonian dominance following Philip II's campaigns into Illyria in the 350s BC.
May 53 is among the better-documented die pairings in the series. The magistrate name Herakleidas appears on only a small cluster of dies, keeping the surviving population tight.