The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage

This article presents the first die study of the coinage of the koinon of Athena Ilias, the evidence for which has doubled since the series was last catalogued in Alfred Bellinger’s Troy: The Coins (1961). The new evidence confirms the longevity of the series (late 180s/early 170s–60s/50s bc) and su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ellis Evans, A
Format: Journal article
Published: American Numismatic Society 2017
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author Ellis Evans, A
author_facet Ellis Evans, A
author_sort Ellis Evans, A
collection OXFORD
description This article presents the first die study of the coinage of the koinon of Athena Ilias, the evidence for which has doubled since the series was last catalogued in Alfred Bellinger’s Troy: The Coins (1961). The new evidence confirms the longevity of the series (late 180s/early 170s–60s/50s bc) and suggests that the series was minted continually but at a low level of production throughout this period. It also provides an opportunity to revisit the question of the identity of the magistrate named on the reverse of the coins and the length of time they were in office, questions which have primarily been discussed in relation to the epigraphic evidence. It is argued that the purpose of the coinage was twofold: to provide the agonothetai who ran the festival with cash with which to make external payments and to act as a status symbol for the koinon’s festival. The early dating of the series proposed here contributes to our understanding of the development of the phenomenon of civic spread-flan coinages in the midsecond century, while the late end date combined with the results of the die study provide an opportunity to look at the impact of the Mithradatic Wars on the finances of the koinon’s cities.
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spelling oxford-uuid:80c60498-d0bd-415a-8afd-5bbcb6228a9c2022-03-26T21:25:42ZThe Koinon of Athena Ilias and its CoinageJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:80c60498-d0bd-415a-8afd-5bbcb6228a9cSymplectic Elements at OxfordAmerican Numismatic Society2017Ellis Evans, AThis article presents the first die study of the coinage of the koinon of Athena Ilias, the evidence for which has doubled since the series was last catalogued in Alfred Bellinger’s Troy: The Coins (1961). The new evidence confirms the longevity of the series (late 180s/early 170s–60s/50s bc) and suggests that the series was minted continually but at a low level of production throughout this period. It also provides an opportunity to revisit the question of the identity of the magistrate named on the reverse of the coins and the length of time they were in office, questions which have primarily been discussed in relation to the epigraphic evidence. It is argued that the purpose of the coinage was twofold: to provide the agonothetai who ran the festival with cash with which to make external payments and to act as a status symbol for the koinon’s festival. The early dating of the series proposed here contributes to our understanding of the development of the phenomenon of civic spread-flan coinages in the midsecond century, while the late end date combined with the results of the die study provide an opportunity to look at the impact of the Mithradatic Wars on the finances of the koinon’s cities.
spellingShingle Ellis Evans, A
The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title_full The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title_fullStr The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title_full_unstemmed The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title_short The Koinon of Athena Ilias and its Coinage
title_sort koinon of athena ilias and its coinage
work_keys_str_mv AT ellisevansa thekoinonofathenailiasanditscoinage
AT ellisevansa koinonofathenailiasanditscoinage