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Tetrobol
| Issuer | Mende (Macedon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 510 BC - 480 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Tetrobol (⅔) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A donkey (mule) standing to right in profile, rendered in archaic relief with characteristic early Macedonian stylization. The animal is depicted with naturalistic musculature, its head lowered slightly, set within a plain circular border. A decorative floral or spiral volute ornament appears in the right field before the animal, a recurring emblematic device on Mendean coinage of this period. The type is the iconic symbol of Mende, referencing the city's name through a visual pun on the Greek word for donkey. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Mende was one of the more prosperous colonies on the Chalcidice peninsula, its wealth built almost entirely on wine exports — the city's vintages were traded as far as Egypt and the Black Sea coast. That commercial reach explains why small silver fractions like this tetrobol circulated so aggressively in the late Archaic period; merchants needed divisible coinage for transactions well below the stater level.
The extensive cross-reference trail through Pozzi, Dewing, Weber, and the SNG Copenhagen series reflects how heavily this type has been studied — Mendan coinage attracted serious collector attention from the nineteenth century onward precisely because the city vanished from political significance after the Olynthian period.