Istros, Thrace AR Drachm Stater 400-350 BC Ancient Greek Silver Coin The Dioscuri Museum Reproduction CSGDS0049

The obverse type has been variously interpreted as representing the Dioscuri, the rising and setting sun, and the two branches of the river Danube.
Istros was probably the first Greek colony on the Black Sea, and was founded in 657 – 656 B.C. or sometime between 630 and 620 B.C. by Milesian settlers in a strategic position near the Danube Delta. The first monetary emissions consisted of cast arrow-heads, later marked with a wheel or inscribed “ΙΣΤ”. Proper coins were minted from the 5th century: attic standard didrachms with an incuse square reverse and cast small bronzes marked with a wheel. Later the staters suffered several weight reductions, and the incuse technique was discontinued. In parallel, Istros minted silver fractions, and after the silver issues were halted in the Lysimachos era, the city struck gold staters. Later, the city issued autonomous bronze coinage and Roman Provincial coinage.

DESIGN:
Obverse side
Two young male heads facing, side by side, one upright, the other inverted
Legend:
Anepigraphic

Reverse side
Sea-eagle grasping dolphin with talons left
Legend:
IΣTPIH; A beneath dolphin

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