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Tetradrachm - Herodotos
| Issuer | Abdera |
|---|---|
| Year | 473 BC - 448 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Griffin seated to left with its right foreleg raised in an alert, heraldic posture, its powerful leonine body rendered with fine sculptural detail and its large, swept-back wings depicted with elegantly engraved feathers fanning upward behind the creature. The eagle's head is turned slightly upward, mouth open, conveying an air of vigilance and power. A cock stands to the left before the griffin, serving as a characteristic supplementary symbol of the Abderite coinage. The design is executed in high relief within a plain field, enclosed by a beaded border, demonstrating the accomplished die-cutting tradition of Abdera. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Abdera's tetradrachms from this period name their issuing magistrate directly on the coin — an administrative practice that makes each type attributable to a specific individual holding civic authority. Herodotos appears among a sequence of such magistrates documented across the series, his name anchoring this piece to a defined bureaucratic moment rather than a generic civic issue.
The city itself was refounded around 545 BC by Teian refugees fleeing Persian expansion, and by the mid-fifth century had become prosperous enough to sustain a substantial silver coinage drawing on Thracian mining resources.