Item number: A205

Year: 340-320 BC

Material: Silver

Size: 16.3 x 16.3 x 3.2 mm

Weight: 5.1 g

Provenance: Coincraft 2016

This is a drachm silver coin minted in the 4th century BC in the Greek city-state colony of Byzantium. The drachm was a weight unit in the ancient Greek world, later adopted as the denomination for silver coins. Legend has it that Byzantium was founded by the Megarian king Byzas in the 6th century BC, following a divine prophecy. This small settlement, situated near the Bosporus Strait, would later evolve into the historically significant cities of Constantinople and Istanbul, exerting profound influence on human history.

The obverse of the coin features a bull facing left, with its right foreleg stepping forward, accompanied by a dolphin below. Bulls and dolphins were common motifs on ancient Greek coins, symbolising strength, prosperity, and their association with the sea god Poseidon. Above the bull’s back, the ancient Greek legend “ΥΠΥ” is engraved, with the first two letters combined into a ligature, serving as the monogram for the colony of Byzantium. On the reverse side of the coin is a windmill-shaped quadrilateral divided into four triangular sections, with granules visible within the concave areas, representing another characteristic of Byzantium.

物件編號: A205

年代: 公元前 340-320 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 16.3 x 16.3 x 3.2 mm

重量: 5.1 g

來源: 錢幣工藝 2016

這是一枚公元前4世紀，希臘城邦在「拜占庭」殖民地鑄造的打蘭銀幣。打蘭是古希臘世界的重量單位，後來延伸為銀幣的面額。拜占庭這個據點，傳說是公元前6世紀，希臘城邦的墨伽拉國王「拜占斯」接受神諭創建的城市。這個比鄰博斯普魯斯海峽的小據點，日後將成長為影響人類歷史的君士坦丁堡和伊斯坦堡。

硬幣正面是一隻面朝左方跨出右前腳的公牛，其下方有一隻海豚的圖案。公牛或海豚都是古希臘硬幣經常使用的圖案，前者象徵力量跟富饒，後者則經常跟海神波賽頓產生聯想。公牛的背部上方鐫印古希臘文「ΥΠΥ」，前兩個字母成為合併在一起的花押字，作為拜占庭這個殖民據點的標誌。硬幣背面是一個風車狀的四等份三角形，仔細觀察能發現凹處內帶有顆粒，亦是拜占庭的特色之一。