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Tetradrachm In the name of Lysimachus
| Issuer | Byzantion (Thrace) |
|---|---|
| Year | 195 BC - 190 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Reverse description | Athena Nikephoros, goddess of victory, enthroned to the left upon an ornate throne, her left arm resting upon a large round shield decorated with a gorgoneion, while a long transverse spear rises diagonally behind her into the field. In her extended right hand she holds a Nike (winged Victory). The principal legend ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΛΥΣΙΜΑΧΟΥ (of King Lysimachus) runs along the right field, with the civic mintmark BY (for Byzantion) appearing below the throne. An ornate trident, the civic symbol of Byzantion, occupies the exergue, and a monogram control mark appears in the inner left field. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Byzantion's posthumous tetradrachms in the name of Lysimachus — the Macedonian general who died at Corupedium in 281 BC — were struck more than eighty years after his death, exploiting the continued commercial authority his image carried throughout the Aegean and Black Sea trading networks. The city controlled the Bosporus strait toll traffic and needed coinage that foreign merchants would accept without hesitation; Lysimachus's types, widely circulated for generations, served that purpose far more effectively than any civic issue bearing an unfamiliar name.
Marinescu's die study distinguishes Byzantion's output from the extensive parallel series struck at Lampsakos and other mints. The specific die pairing of Marinescu 223 places this piece within a narrow production window during the Roman-Seleucid tensions that destabilized Thracian commerce in precisely this decade.