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Drachm
| Issuer | Aptera |
|---|---|
| Year | |
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| Reference(s) | SvoronosCr#19, BMC Greek#8, Hunterian#3 |
| Obverse description | Bust of a female deity facing right, her hair bound in a stephane and arranged in neat waves, with loose locks falling at the nape of the neck. The effigy is rendered in fine late Hellenistic style, with delicate facial features including an almond eye, straight nose, and slightly parted lips. The neck is bare, and the portrait is set against a plain, slightly irregular field characteristic of hand-struck coinage. |
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Aptera, the Cretan city whose name translates as "featherless" — reportedly because the Sirens lost their wings there after being defeated in a singing contest with the Muses — produced a relatively modest coinage compared to the island's dominant mints at Knossos and Gortyna. This drachm falls within the city's Classical to early Hellenistic issues, a period during which Aptera maintained enough autonomy to strike its own silver despite the perpetual factional violence that characterized Cretan inter-city politics.
The Svoronos Cretensis reference remains the foundational catalog for this series, though attributions between his type 19 and adjacent issues occasionally generate disagreement among specialists.