Abdera, Thrace AR Tetradrachm 386-375 BC Ancient Greek Silver Coin Griffin on Obverse, Apollo on Reverse Museum Reproduction CSGT0047

The griffin as a coin-type at Abdera is clearly copied from that on the coins of the mother-city Teos. It may be borrowed from the cultus of the Hyperborean Apollo. The magistrates whose names occur on the coins of this town were probably members of the governing body, commissioned to superintend the coinage of the state, and not mere monetary magistrates.

Abdera was a town on the coast of Thrace near the mouth of the Néstos River. It was named after Abderus, son of Hermes. The people of Teos, evacuating Ionia when it was overrun by the Persians under Cyrus (c.540 BCE), succeeded in establishing a colony. It developed a brisk trade with the Thracian interior. Abdera was a prosperous member of the Delian League in the 5th century but was crippled early in the 4th century BCE by Thracian incursions and declined sharply in importance. The philosophers Protagoras and Democritus were citizens of Abdera. The site is occupied by the modern town of Ávdhira, Greece.
DESIGN:
Obverse side
Griffin rearing
Legend:
ABΔ HPI

Reverse side
Apollo, nude, with laurel wreath and chlamys over his shoulders, standing half-left, holding patera and laurel branch with a standing stag beside him; all within shallow incuse square
Legend:
ΕΠΙ KAΛ-ΛIA NAKTOΣ around

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