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Drachm - Anonymous
| Issuer | Lihyanite Kingdom (Northern Arabia) |
|---|---|
| Year | 350 BC - 250 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Drachm (1) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Highly stylized and schematically rendered helmeted bust of Athena facing right, derived from Athenian prototype but executed in a distinctly local Arabian idiom. The crested Attic helmet is rendered as a series of bold parallel strokes across the crown of the head, while the eye is depicted frontally as a large, prominently raised oval pellet — a characteristic feature of Lihyanite coinage. A circular earring is visible below the helmet cheek-guard, and the neck and chin are summarily indicated by shallow relief. The entire design is contained within a roughly beaded border following the oval flan. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Lihyanite kingdom, centered at Dedan in the Hejaz, occupied a stretch of the incense and spice routes that made it briefly prosperous and largely forgotten by later historians. These anonymous drachms are struck in direct imitation of Athenian types, a common enough practice across the ancient Near East during the fourth and third centuries, but the Lihyanite versions are distinguished by their crude local re-engraving — the product of artisans working from coins rather than from trained die-cutters. Huth's classification remains the primary reference because the series has attracted so little dedicated scholarship.