19 October 2016

Coinage of Thracian Chersones online in IKMK

The coinage minted in silver and bronze has been attributed to the Thracian Chersones and was interpreted as a corporate currency of the inhabitants of the peninsula.

Characteristic for the series is the use of the image of a lion. In a first phase a lion’s head appears on the obverse then followed by protomes with reversed head. Notably the quadratum incusum on the reverse is used for a long time and is filled by an intransparent system of different pictures, letters and signs in the later period. Besides these silver coins also bronze coins were issued, they show another typical image of the coinage of the Thracian Chersones the grain. On the Bronze coins often the inscription XEP or XEPPON appears as abbreviation of XEPPONESOS (peninsula). Because of the similar motifs of the Kardian coinage normally it is thought that these coins were struck in Kardia. The holdings of the Münzkabinett Berlin of these coins (153 specimens) are now online available in IKMK and soon will be in CNT.

Author: Angela Berthold