The “Cretan Polis” ➔ Characteristic Cretan issues
Ν533, Ν2135, ΣΓ527
Metal (Silver)
Minor use-wear on surfaces
Diameters: 1.2 cm. 2.5 cm. 1.2 cm.
Unknown provenance (Ν533, ΣΓ527), Charakas (Ν2135)
Coin hoard/1963
Hellenistic period:
5th-3rd c. BC:
Gallery:
XXICase:
208Exhibition thematic unit:
Cretan CoinageCretan Coinage (5th-3rd c. BC)
Description
Inscriptions of the 6th century BC attest that, in the Cretan cities, fines and amounts in general could be calculated in numismatic units such as the stater and triobol. The most commonly used coins appear to have been Aeginetan, as attested by a hoard from Matala (concealed c. 500 BC), the oldest pseudo-Aeginetan issues of the island in Kydonia (475-450 BC), and the use of the Aeginetan standard for the Cretan coins that began to be produced by ever-increasing cities from 450 BC onwards. Around 40 cities, large or small, minted silver or bronze coins in the period of autonomy up to the Roman conquest (69-67 BC). Representative examples: 1. Pseudo-Aeginetan hemidrachm of Kydonia. Obverse: tortoise. Reverse: incuse square divided into five compartments, one containing a crescent. 2. Stater of Tylissos (300-270 BC). Obverse: wreathed head of Hera. Reverse: standing nude Apollo with bow and wild goat’s head, with a small tree in front of him. Inscription ΤΥΛΙΣΙΟΝ (Tylision, “of the Tylissians”). 3. Drachm of Itanos (300-270 BC). Obverse: helmeted head of Athena. Reverse: eagle and Triton as supplementary motif. Inscription ΙΤΑΝΙΩΝ (Itanion, “of the Itanians”).Bibliography:
J. N. Svoronos, Numismatique de la Crète ancienne, Macon 1890. G. Le Rider, Monnaies Crétoises du Ve au Ier siécle av. J.C., Paris 1966. R Holloway, "An Archaic Hoard from Crete and the Early Aeginetan Coinage", American. Numismatic Society. Museum Notes 17 (1971), pp. 1-21. Μ. Stefanakis, “The Introduction of Monetary Economy and the Beginning of Local Minting in Crete” in A. Chaniotis (ed.), From Minoan Farmers to Roman Traders, Stuttgart 1999, pp. 247–268. R. Cantilena – F. Carbone (eds), Monetary and Social Aspects of Hellenistic Crete, Proceedings of the International Conference (Athens, 13-14 June 2018), ASAtene Suppl. 4, 2019Author:
K. S.Photographs' metadata