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Coin of the Month

March 2025: A New Type of the Istrian Double Head Coinage

The Coin of this Month is presented by Alexander Scileppi


Housed at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy and deriving from the Hourmouziadis Collection, the Coin of the Month of March is an unpublished variety of the Istrian double head coinage. This type features two opposed, parallel male heads with curly hair on the obverse, and an eagle on a dolphin on the reverse. The motif on the reverse depicts the city’s coat of arms. While there are many theories about the meaning of the double heads on the obverse, a conclusive interpretation has not been found.

As Istros was a trade city, many have linked this peculiar obverse design to trade in some manner, interpreting it as either the representation of the winds, the Danube River or simply trade itself, more specifically the slave trade. Another interpretation links it to a pair of solar eclipses that occurred within three years of each other in 434 and 431 BC. 

Though the significance of the images on the revers has been established as the coat of arms, the meaning of the letters and monograms that often accompany the reverse design remains unclear. John Hind has argued that the letters are the initials of the magistrates responsible for the minting of the coins. Though this would explain the appearance of monograms, it does not account for the regular order in which the letters appear. Mihai Dima instead proposes that the letters represent numbers, which signify the coin issues. Sorting the letters found on the coins by their numerical counterparts is indeed possible in some ancient numerical systems. For Dima, the monograms still conceal the names of magistrates. 

It has also been suggested by Federico de Luca that the letters could indicate the number of coins minted in a batch, as there is some evidence in inscriptions for parallel use of different number systems to specify an amount of silver. In this case, the letters still represent numbers, but these are either taken to signify thousands, or, in the case of multiple letters or monograms, multiplied to reach the amount. While this accounts for the different placements of the same letter, as there could be different batches of the same amount, it does not explain why letter combinations meant to signify larger batches are as common as, if not less common than, those of smaller issues.

According to its weight and the overall design, our Coin of the Month belongs to Group IV and dates to the second half of the 4th century BC. Under the eagle’s tale, it features the letter H, without any additional control mark discernible under the dolphin or elsewhere in the field. The fact that in all thus far attested varieties the letter H appears in combination with a monogram makes our specimen a new type.


Editorial note: Upon closer examination, the specimen was determined to be a modern Bulgarian forgery. We extend our thanks to F. Haymann and M. Dima for their expert assistance.



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