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Tetradrachm In the name of Lysimachus
| Issuer | Byzantion (Thrace) |
|---|---|
| Year | 150 BC - 120 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 16.92 g |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Athena Nikephoros enthroned left, wearing helmet and aegis, her left arm resting upon a large round shield set at her side, a transverse spear visible in the background behind her. In her outstretched right hand she holds a small Nike (Victory). The Greek legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ ('of King Lysimachus') runs around the upper and right fields. A monogram appears in the inner left field, the civic ethnic BY is inscribed on the throne, and an ornamented trident — the distinctive symbol of Byzantion — occupies the exergue. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ ΒΥ |
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| Additional information |
By the mid-second century BC, Lysimachus had been dead for over a century, yet his image remained commercially potent across the Aegean. Byzantion was one of several cities that continued — or revived — his coinage long after his death at Corupedium in 281 BC, exploiting the trust his types commanded in Black Sea trade circuits. These posthumous civic issues functioned essentially as trade currency, their authority resting on a dead king's reputation rather than any living political power.
Marinescu's catalog distinguishes Byzantion's output within this tradition by magistrate names and control marks, placing this piece firmly within a locally administered series rather than a royal mint continuation.