Thrace, Maroneia AR Tetradrachm 189-145 BC Ancient Greek Silver Coin Dionysos on Obverse Museum Reproduction CSGT0082

Maroneia was located on the coast about midway between the mouths of the Hebrus and the Nestus. It was named after Maron, son of Euanthes, a priest of Apollo, who in the Odyssey gives Odysseus the wine with which he intoxicates Polyphemos. Maron is also called a son of Dionysos. Grapes and vines are symbols of Dionysos or Maron, and advertise the famous wine of Maroneia, which was said to be capable of mixture with twenty times its quantity of water. The autonomous coinage of Maroneia ceased when it fell under the dominion of Philip of Macedon, but the town appears to have remained a place of mintage under Philip, Alexander, Philip Aridaeus, Lysimachus, etc. Not until the second century B.C., when the Romans were supreme in Greece, did Maroneia regain its autonomy. The date of the commencement of the new series of tetradrachms is uncertain, but it is likely that neither Maroneia nor Thasos began to coin again until after the closing of the Macedonian mints for silver in 148 B.C.

DESIGN:
Obverse side
Head of young Dionysos right, wreathed in ivy
Legend:
Anepigraphic

Reverse side
Dionysos standing left, holding narthex stalks and grapes, monograms in left and right lower fields
Legend:
ΔIONYΣOY ΣΩTHPOΣ MAPΩNITΩN (“Dionysos, Saviour of Maroneia” )

A perfect choice for Numismatists, Historians, Military Veterans, Collectors