Greek Coin Tetradrachm

Inv. No.: c007
Provenance: Ephesus
Date: 387-295 B.C.
Weight: 12.82g
 
Obv.: Bee with straight wings dividing.

Rev.: Forepart of kneeling stag right, looking left; date-palm behind, magistrate’s name before.

In the fourth century B.C., with Athens’ power diminished and Persia on the defensive, Ephesus struck a long and abundant series of tetradrachms.

The coinage of Ephesus is dominated by the cult of Artemis. The bee, a fertility symbol regularly found on copies of her cult statue, is a reminder of her universal motherhood; the stag, of Artemis, the huntress. The palm tree symbolises the one under which Artemis was born.

Since probably almost 200 magistrates’ names are known, these cannot stand for single annual magistrates. As different names are sometimes associated with the same obverse die, the minting of coins at Ephesus was possibly supervised by annual boards of three or more magistrates, as happened later at Athens and Rome.

Comparanda:
Cf. BMCG, Ionia, Ephesus 49.