THRACE, Chersonesos. Circa 386-338 BC. AR Hemidrachm (13.5mm, 2.38 g). Forepart of lion right, head reverted / Quadripartite incuse square with alternating raised and sunken quarters; pellet above AΓ monogram and lizard in opposite sunken quarters. BMC 27 var. (placement of pellet); McClean –; Weber –; SNG Copenhagen –; SNG Dreer 112 var. (same). Good VF, small edge cut.
Like many other Greek city-states, the city of Chersonesos was built on a site from which it could exploit the military or economic advantages of its location. Located on a peninsula extending from Europe into the Aegean on the west and the Dardanelles on the east, its name derives from the ancient Greek word for peninsula. Little is known about this city, apart from its coinage. Two cities grew up nearby. Of the one, Agora (Malagra?), little is known. The other, called Kallipolis, or “Beautiful City,” was made famous, first as the first foothold of the Ottoman advance into Europe, and later as Gallipoli, the site of the famous ANZAC invasion of 1916.
Both these issues and the roughly contemporary hemidrachms of Parion in Mysia are routinely found with small test cuts on the edge, placed by merchants to ensure that the coin was not plated.
