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Tetradrachm - Metriketes
| Issuer | Ilion (Troad) |
|---|---|
| Year | 185 BC - 50 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Round (irregular) |
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| Obverse description | Helmeted bust of Athena facing right, depicted in fine Hellenistic style. The goddess wears a crested Attic helmet adorned with an elaborate fan-shaped crest and decorative cheekpieces, with curling locks of hair visible beneath. The neck is draped, and the facial features are rendered with characteristic Hellenistic refinement. The field is plain, with no legend on the obverse, the entire composition dominated by the commanding effigy of the deity. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Ilion leveraged its identity as the supposed site of ancient Troy aggressively throughout the Hellenistic period, and this civic coinage is a direct product of that political calculation. The city cultivated relationships with Rome — which had its own foundational mythology tied to Trojan ancestry through Aeneas — and Roman goodwill translated into tangible privileges, including the right to strike silver at a meaningful weight standard. The Metriketes type, catalogued by Bellinger under both his Troy and Civic series, spans a production window of well over a century, suggesting sustained institutional continuity in the city's mint operation rather than a single commemorative issue.