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GRIFFIN, Abdera, Thrace | Apollon, AE14 - 4th Century BC.
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Griffin | Apollon, Bronze.
Obv: Griffin pouncing right, head raised in menacing poise, club below; MENAN
Rev: Apollon, right, within linear square: ABΔ-HPI-T-ΩΝ (with retrograde N).
Exergue: MENAN
Mint: Abdera
Struck: ca. 352-323 BC.
Size: 14.67 mm.
Weight: ca. 2.5 grm.
Die axis: 0°
The Griffin (Greek gryphos, Persian shirdal - "lion-eagle") is a legendary creature with the body of a lion and the head, with upstanding ear-tufts, and wings of an eagle: as the lion was considered 'King of the Beasts' and the eagle 'King of the Air,' the griffin was thought to be an especially powerful and majestic creature. The griffin is generally represented with four legs, wings and a beak, with eagle-like talons in place of a lion's forelegs and feathered, with equine-like ears jutting from the crown of its head. Some writers describe the tail as a serpent, in the manner of a chimera.
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