Coin hoard from Knossos
Ν1258 - Ν1261
Metal (Silver)
Good
Diameter: 17-21 cm. Weight: 12.0-12.2 gr.
Knossos
"Temple of Rhea", SW corner of Central Court of Minoan palace
Classical period:
Minted: 500-432 BC Concealed: late 5th c. BC:
Gallery:
XXICase:
208Exhibition thematic unit:
Cretan CoinageCoin Hoards
Description
This small hoard of four Aeginetan staters was discovered by Arthur Evans in the “Temple of Rhea” and is the earliest find of coins from the town of Knossos, making it a particularly important assemblage. Aeginetan issues of this type, the obverse bearing a turtle (in the earlier examples) or a tortoise (in the latest coin of the hoard), and with an incuse square divided into eight or five uneven compartments on the reverse, are the most common foreign coins in use in Crete from the late 6th to the 4th century BC. As a direct consequence, Knossos, like most of the island’s cities, followed the Aeginetan standard as soon as it started minting its own coinage around 450 BC or a little earlier. This hoard is consequently a natural outcome of an earlier economic practice that was also to continue in the city.Bibliography:
A. Evans, Palace of Minos, vol. II, 5-6. G. Le Rider, Monnaies Crétoises du Ve au Ier siécle av. J.C., Paris 1966, 223. J.N. Coldstream, "Evans Greek finds: the early town of Knossos and its encroachment on the borders of the Minoan Palace", Annual of the British School at Athens 95 (2000), 284-288, pl. 58. K. Sidiropoulos, "Κνωσός, Colonia Iulia Nobilis Cnosus, Μακρυτοίχος: τα νομισματικά ίχνη της ιστορίας", in N. Gigourtakis (ed.), Το Heraklion και η περιοχή του. Διαδρομή in χρόνο, Heraklion 2004, 636.Author:
K. S.Photographs' metadata