Side Pamphylia AR Tetradrachm c. -205 to -100 Athena Nike C/S Bow in quiver
Side, Pamphylia, AR Tetradrachm, circa -205 to -100, Dio(d)– as magistrate
$415.00Seyrig, Side 14; SNG BN 689.
Obv.: Head of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet.
Rev.: Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate above ΔIO (magistrate) in left field.
16.31 g
30.9 mm
Bow in quiver with Λ ΑΟ on obverse in Athena's helmet.
This coin is an Attic standard tetradrachm, the weight standard adopted by Phillip II of Macedon that spread rapidly with the expansion of the Macedonian Empire and increased use of money in the Greek world, over 300 years of the Hellenistic period. The placement of the countermark on these coins is mostly (not exclusively) standardized with this location behind Nike and a second option on the bowl of Athena's helmet on the obverse. (cf. sullacoins.com)
Seen across Asia Minor, countermarks such as that on the present piece were applied, according to Price, to enable Attic-weight coinage to continue to circulate in the post-reform years after the introduction of cistophoric coinage in circa 180 BC. This countermark was applied by Laodikeia in Phrygia.
Bow in quiver counterstamps on Alexander-type and Side tetradrachms, with different legends, have been attributed to cities within the the Kingdom of Pergamon (Pergamon, Ephesos, Tralles, Sardes, Synnada, Apameia, Laodikeia, Stratonikeia, Adramytion, and Sale). Price has linked these counterstamps to the introduction of the cistophoric coinage in the 180s BC. The application of these counterstamps permitted the circulation of Attic weight coins in the years following the reform. See R. Bauslaugh, "Cistophoric Countermarks and the Monetary System of Eumenes II" in NC 1990.
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In stock