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Trichalkon
| Issuer | Smyrna |
|---|---|
| Year | 145 BC - 50 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Laureate head of Apollo facing right, rendered in the Hellenistic style with finely detailed radiate crown of laurel. The portrait occupies the majority of the flan, with the god's youthful facial features visible despite moderate surface wear. The neck is truncated cleanly at the base, and the surrounding field is plain within a beaded border. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | ΣΜΥΡΝΑΙΩΝ ΛΕΟΝΤΙΣΚΟΣ (Translation: Smyrna Leontiskos, magistrate) |
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| Additional information |
Smyrna's bronze coinage of this period reflects the city's complicated position as one of the most aggressively pro-Roman poleis in Asia Minor — a loyalty it had cultivated since at least 195 BC, when it became the first city in the known world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma. That distinction earned Smyrna considerable favor and a degree of civic autonomy even as Rome tightened its grip on the region following the settlement at Apamea in 188 BC.
The trichalkon denomination itself is a relatively coarse fractional unit, and examples from Smyrna in this weight range suggest later production in the series, when civic bronze issues across Asia Minor grew heavier under shifting local monetary conventions.