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Silver Unit - Aphilas
| Issuer | Aksumite Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 305-315 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 2.34 g |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Draped bust of King Aphilas facing right, similarly bareheaded and wearing a beaded necklace with a draped paludamentum, mirroring the obverse effigy in style and execution. A crescent or stellate device appears in the upper field, consistent with Aksumite royal iconography. The surrounding Greek legend AξⲰMITⲰΝ BICI ΔIMHΛH is distributed around the periphery of the flan, identifying the king as a man of Dimele and ruler of the Aksumites. The coin is struck on an irregular flan with a dotted border, typical of early Aksumite hammered silver coinage. |
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| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | ND (305-315) |
| Additional information |
Aphilas ruled Aksum in the early fourth century and is notable for being among the first Aksumite kings to strike silver coinage — a monetary ambition that proved short-lived, as the dynasty's silver issues largely gave way to gold and bronze within a generation. His coins are known in extraordinarily small numbers, and the references cite only a handful of confirmed specimens across collections worldwide.
The MHAC and Hahn concordance numbers reflect decades of effort by scholars to reconcile overlapping attributions for early Aksumite issues, where die links and fabric variations have repeatedly forced reclassification.