Item number: A204

Year: 350-300 BC

Material: Silver

Size: 15.9 x 14.1 x 1.9 mm

Weight: 2.38 g

Provenance: Coincraft 2016

This is a hemidrachm silver coin minted by the ancient Greek city-state of Abdera in the region of Thrace. The obverse of the coin depicts a crouching mythological creature known as the “griffin,” with the ancient Greek inscription “ΑΒΔΗ” above, indicating the city-state’s name, and below, there is a Greek inscription “ΡΙΤΕΩΝ” of unclear significance. On the reverse side, there is a square border, within which is depicted Apollo, the sun god, facing right and wearing a laurel wreath. The Greek inscription “ΕΠΙ ΠΥΘ” around the outer border indicates the name of the magistrate in office at the time.

Abdera traces its origins back to the 7th century BC as a harbour city situated near the Aegean Sea and in proximity to the important trading post of the island of Thasos. In the 6th century BC, as the Persian Empire expanded its control over the Greek cities along the coast of Asia Minor, inhabitants of the city-state of Teos, belonging to the Ionian League, migrated in large numbers to Abdera, ushering in a period of prosperity for the city. Around the 5th century BC, Abdera began minting its own coins, with immigrants from Teos imprinting the griffin, their homeland’s emblem, on the obverse side of the coins, while the reverse side featured a simple geometric pattern divided into four quadrants. It wasn’t until the late Classical period, around the 4th century BC, during the transition to the Hellenistic era, that the square pattern on the reverse side was replaced by the image of Apollo.

物件編號: A204

年代: 公元前 350-300 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 15.9 x 14.1 x 1.9 mm

重量: 2.38 g

來源: 錢幣工藝 2016

這是色雷斯地區的古希臘城邦「阿布德拉」鑄造的半打蘭面額銀幣。硬幣正面是一隻趴坐的神話動物「獅鷲獸」，上方以古希臘文「ΑΒΔΗ」標示城邦名稱，下方還有意義不明的希臘文「ΡΙΤΕΩΝ」。硬幣背面有一個方形框線，框內是面朝右側，頭戴桂冠葉的太陽神阿波羅。外框周圍的希臘文「ΕΠΙ ΠΥΘ」是時任執政官的名字。

阿布德拉能上溯至公元前7世紀，是一個比鄰愛琴海和靠近重要商貿據點:薩索斯島的海港城市。公元前6世紀，隨著波斯帝國席捲小亞細亞沿岸的希臘城市，屬於伊奧尼亞聯盟的忒歐斯城邦居民大舉遷往阿布德拉，使得阿布德拉迎來自己的高光時刻。公元前5世紀左右，阿布德拉開始鑄造硬幣，來自忒歐斯的移民將家鄉的獅鷲獸圖騰印在硬幣正面，背面則是四等份方形的簡易幾何圖案。一直到公元前4世紀，古典時代末期和希臘化世紀之交，背面的方形圖案方才被阿波羅的神像取代。