Sizing Range: 5-12

Denomination: AR Hemidrachm Date: circa 350 BCE

Culture: Greek Thracian Cherronesos

Description: The obverse depicts a forepart lion, looking back, over its shoulder. The reverse depicts a quadripartite incuse square.

The lion, King of Beasts, was used prominently on ancient coins from the very inception of coinage, between 650 and 600 BCE. These coins were minted in Thracian Cherronesos (AKA Chersonese) about 400-350 BCE.

Thrace was just north and east of Macedonia on the Aegean Sea. Greek Colonists settled this area during the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. The interior areas were primarily populated by the indigenous tribes. They became partially Hellenized by contact with the Greeks. Their contact with the Greeks was mainly in the form of trade. They had significant silver mines available and struck coins for mainly for trade purposes.

Their coinage often depicted scenes "close to nature," which explains the Lion motif of the obverse and many of the reverse symbols, which range from lizards and bees to grains and grapes.