Aeolian Silver Tetradrachm of Myrina, 165 BCE
Silver
C.4136
Obverse: Laureate Head of Apollo Facing Righ Reverse: Apollo Gyrnios Advancing Right, Holding Branch and Philale, Omphalos and Amphora at his Feet, Inscription, “MYRINAIWN,” and Monogram to the Lef Myrina...
Obverse: Laureate Head of Apollo Facing Righ
Reverse: Apollo Gyrnios Advancing Right, Holding Branch and Philale, Omphalos and Amphora at his Feet, Inscription, “MYRINAIWN,” and Monogram to the Lef
Myrina was one of the twelve cities that comprised the Aeolian League. Aeolia was a region that covered the west coast of Asia Minor. However, the word, “Aeolia,” is not a geographical term. Instead, it refers collectively to the cities founded by the Aeolians, a branch of the Hellenic people. This coin was minted in Myrina during the 2nd Century B.C. Believed to have been of some importance during Hellenistic times, Myrina was located northeast of Kyme and was overshadowed by its more important neighbor. The Greek inscription, “MYRINAIWN,” translated as “Myrinaion” means “of” or “belonging to the people of Myrina.”
How many hands have touched a coin in your pocket or your purse? What eras and lands have the coin traversed on its journey into our possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of who touched the coin before us, or where the coin will venture to after us. More than money, coins are a symbol of the state that struck them, of a specific time and place, whether currency in the age we live or an artifact of a long forgotten empire. This ancient coin is more than an artifact; it is a memorial to the glories of an ancient city passed from the hands of civilization to civilization, from generation to generation.
Reverse: Apollo Gyrnios Advancing Right, Holding Branch and Philale, Omphalos and Amphora at his Feet, Inscription, “MYRINAIWN,” and Monogram to the Lef
Myrina was one of the twelve cities that comprised the Aeolian League. Aeolia was a region that covered the west coast of Asia Minor. However, the word, “Aeolia,” is not a geographical term. Instead, it refers collectively to the cities founded by the Aeolians, a branch of the Hellenic people. This coin was minted in Myrina during the 2nd Century B.C. Believed to have been of some importance during Hellenistic times, Myrina was located northeast of Kyme and was overshadowed by its more important neighbor. The Greek inscription, “MYRINAIWN,” translated as “Myrinaion” means “of” or “belonging to the people of Myrina.”
How many hands have touched a coin in your pocket or your purse? What eras and lands have the coin traversed on its journey into our possession? As we reach into our pockets to pull out some change, we rarely hesitate to think of who touched the coin before us, or where the coin will venture to after us. More than money, coins are a symbol of the state that struck them, of a specific time and place, whether currency in the age we live or an artifact of a long forgotten empire. This ancient coin is more than an artifact; it is a memorial to the glories of an ancient city passed from the hands of civilization to civilization, from generation to generation.