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Tetradrachm turtle/rose
| Issuer | Kyzikos (Mysia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 340 BC - 300 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bust of Kore Soteira facing left, her hair bound in a sakkos; the effigy is adorned with a pendant earring and flanked by ears of grain, emblematic of her chthonic and agrarian associations. The portrait is rendered in fine archaic-to-classical transitional style, with carefully articulated facial features and hair arrangement. The inscription ΣΩΤΕΙΡΑ appears in the field, serving as an identifying legend for the deity. The overall composition reflects the high-quality engraving tradition of the Cyzicene mint during the late fourth century BC. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Kyzikos sat at the mouth of the Propontis and used that position ruthlessly — the city controlled transit between the Aegean and Black Sea for centuries, extracting tolls and maintaining an aggressively independent mint even as Macedonian power swept through the region. The electrum staters of Kyzikos had long served as the hard currency of the northern Aegean grain trade, but by the late fourth century that coinage was giving way to silver as Alexander's Persian hoard flooded the Mediterranean economy.
This tetradrachm belongs to a transitional phase, minted as the city negotiated its relationship with the Macedonian successor states following Alexander's campaigns. The Bement collection reference dates to one of the great early dispersals of Greek coinage scholarship; Lampson's numbering places this among a tightly catalogued sequence.