5C. Drahma Coin, Gemini type - the two faces of the Danube, Histria, 340-313 BC, the first coin minted on the current territory of Romania, silver
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5C. Drahma Coin, Gemini type - the two faces of the Danube, Histria, 340-313 BC, the first coin minted on the current territory of Romania, silver
Starting price:
EUR 350
Sold
EUR 700
silver, d=18 mm
A new phase of development began in the 5th century B.C. in Istria, where the first mint workshops were opened, the Greek colony issuing its own currency around the years 480-475 B.C. These were the well-known cast silver drachmas, considered to be the first coins from the current territory of Romania. On the obverse they have the city's emblem, represented by an eagle above a left-facing dolphin, and the legend with Greek characters IΣTPI (ISTRI) designating the name of the colony. According to the famous Romanian cultural figure Nicolae Iorga, these symbols, the sea eagle holding a dolphin in its talons, were used on coins by other Greek cities, such as Sinope - another colony of Miletus - and Olbia. On the reverse of the Istrian coins are two adjacent human heads, one of them positioned upside down, probably representing the Dioscuri or perhaps other protector gods of the city's commerce.
The silver drachmas minted in Istria had a relatively wide circulation area, especially Dobrogea, such coins being also discovered in Muntenia and Moldova. Over time, the weight of the Istrian drachma decreased, from 7-8 grams in the 5th century B.C., to 5-6 grams in the 4th century B.C. In addition to drachmas, other fractional silver coins were minted in Istria with the same iconographic characteristics: a hemidrachm, equal to half a drachma, a quarter of a drachma, an obol, equal to 1/6 of a drachma, a hemiobol, equal to 1/2 of an obol or equal to 1/12 of a drachma.
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