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Silver Unit - Endubis
| Issuer | Aksum |
|---|---|
| Year | 290-305 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | MHAC#2, Hahn Ak#2, BMC Aksum#4-9, SACAM#12-21, HCR#54105-54115 |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Draped bust of King Endubis facing right, identical in type to the obverse, wearing the distinctive royal headcloth with frontal ornament and triangular trailing ribbon. A pellet on crescent device above the effigy divides the surrounding Greek legend into two registers. The field is plain and the composition is enclosed within a neat border of dots, consistent with the hammered fabric of early Aksumite silver coinage. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | AξⲰMITⲰ ΒΙСΙ ΔΑΧΥ (Translation: [...] of the Aksumites, man of Dakhu) |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
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| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Endubis is the earliest named Aksumite ruler known from coinage — his issues represent the introduction of a fully indigenous monetary system into the Horn of Africa, almost certainly modeled on late Roman numismatic conventions encountered through Red Sea trade networks. Aksum at this period was extracting and exporting ivory, gold, and tortoiseshell through the port of Adulis, and coinage served the practical demands of that commerce rather than any purely symbolic function.
The silver series is considerably scarcer than the gold, a pattern that holds across most early Aksumite reigns.