Islands off Troas, Tenedos, Silver Drachm.

Islands off Troas, Tenedos, silver Drachm, after 189 BC, Janiform male and female heads, respectively laureate and diademed, rev. ΤΕΝΕΔΙΩΝ, double headed axe, monogram, grapes and tripod below, all within wreath, 3.73g, 1h (SNG Copenhagen 524 var. [different symbol]; de Callataÿ, Tenedos, Essays Price 48 [this obverse die]). Heavy patina, nearly extremely fine and very rare.

Provenance:

Ex NAC Auction 100, 29 May 2017, lot 152

Ex Numismatic Naumann, Auction 44, 7 June 2016, lot 253

This silver drachm was struck on the island of Tenedos, located off the coast of the Troad in the northeastern Aegean, after 189 BC. Tenedos was an important island community with a long history of distinctive coinage, and its coins frequently drew upon local religious traditions and symbols. The obverse of this drachm is particularly interesting, depicting the conjoined or janiform heads of a male and female figure. The male head is laureate, while the female head wears a diadem, creating a deliberately balanced and unusual composition in which two faces look in opposite directions. Janiform imagery was associated with the religious and civic traditions of Tenedos and gives the coin a distinctive character among Hellenistic issues. The reverse bears the inscription ΤΕΝΕΔΙΩΝ, meaning "of the Tenedians," surrounding one of the island's most recognisable symbols: a double-headed axe. This emblem was closely associated with Tenedos and appears prominently on its coinage over several centuries. Beneath the axe are additional symbols, including a monogram, grapes and a tripod, while the entire composition is enclosed within a wreath. The grape bunch reflects the importance of viticulture and wine production in the Aegean, while the tripod carried religious associations and may have referred to ritual or sanctuary traditions. The wreath provides a decorative frame that unifies the various symbols. The date of the coin, after 189 BC, places it within the Hellenistic period, when Tenedos was situated within a complex political environment shaped by the rival interests of the Hellenistic kingdoms and the growing influence of Rome. Despite these changes, the island retained its distinctive civic identity, expressed clearly through its coinage. This drachm is therefore an excellent example of Tenedian numismatic tradition, combining unusual janiform portraiture with the island's characteristic double axe and a series of symbols reflecting its religious, agricultural and civic identity.