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⅓ Stater
| Issuer | Kition (Cyprus (ancient)) |
|---|---|
| Year | 425 BC - 392 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | The hero Herakles depicted standing to right in an archer's stance, body slightly turned, with both arms fully extended as he draws a strung bow. A quiver appears to the left of the figure, and an ankh-like symbol is positioned to the right in the field. The style is archaic Cypriot, with fine linear execution characteristic of the Kition mint during the late fifth and early fourth centuries BC. |
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| Mint | Kition (ancient Cyprus) |
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| Additional information |
Kition was a Phoenician-founded city-state on Cyprus's southern coast, and its coinage from this period reflects the reign of the Baal dynasty of kings — likely Baalmelek I or his successor Azbaal — who maintained power partly through tribute relationships with Persia during the Achaemenid Empire's grip on the eastern Mediterranean. Cyprus sat at the intersection of Phoenician, Greek, and Persian commercial networks, and fractional silver like this piece would have circulated in exactly that multilingual, multi-cultural port economy.
The BMC Cyprus attribution for this denomination remains cautious on precise reign assignment, and SNG Copenhagen specimens show notable die variation across the series.