|
Mysia. Parion
|
Sear 3922; SNG France 1368-1370; SNG von Aulock 1322; BMC 35-37.
AR hemidrachm, 350-300 B.C., 1.42 g., 14.18 mm. max., 90°
Obv.: Gorgoneion facing, surrounded by snakes.
Rev.: ΠA–PI above and below, bull standing left, head right; six-pointed star below.
Parion was a city of Mysia, located along the coast of the Hellespont, near the entrance to the Propontis. It was founded in the 8th/7th century B.C. by colonists from Miletos, Erythrai, and Paros (who probably gave the city its name). It began striking coinage in the late 6th century, consisting mainly of silver drachms with a gorgoneion on the obverse and a simple square incuse on the reverse. The gorgoneion remained a significant type on its civic coinage into the Roman period. Parion’s location relative to the Hellespont not only made it an important commercial center, as suggested by its prolific civic coinage, but also a strategically important city for the competing Hellenistic monarchies.
|
|