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Hemidrachm
| Issuer | Aptera (Crete (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 67 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Hemidrachm (1/2) |
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| 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 |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Hermes depicted standing to the left in full figure, clad in the petasus (winged traveler's hat) and a chlamys draped over his left arm. He holds a caduceus in his right hand, serving as a key divine attribute of the deity. The ethnic legend ΑΠΤΑΡΑΙΩΝ arcs around the figure in the field, identifying the issuing city of Aptera, and the composition reflects the refined figural style characteristic of Cretan Hellenistic coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | ΑΠΤΑΡΑΙΩΝ |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
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| Additional information |
Aptera was one of the more durable poleis of western Crete, surviving the internecine conflicts that eliminated many of its neighbors before the Roman conquest of 67 BC effectively ended autonomous Cretan coinage altogether. The city's name — meaning "featherless" — derives from a mythological contest between the Sirens and the Muses, said to have taken place there, in which the defeated Sirens tore out their own feathers in shame.
The hemidrachm fraction saw consistent use in Cretan inter-city commerce, where small silver denominations carried practical weight given the island's fragmented political geography.