archaicwonder:Rare gold hemidrachm from Thasos, Thracian islands, c. 380 BCThe bearded head of Diony

archaicwonder:Rare gold hemidrachm from Thasos, Thracian islands, c. 380 BCThe bearded head of Dionysos wearing an ivy-wreath. On the reverse, ΘAΣION inscription, Herakles, wearing a lion’s skin headdress, kneeling and shooting an arrow, K inscribed on the right, all within a linear square within an incuse square. Extremely fine, superb classical style and very rare.Thasos is an island off the ancient Thracian coast in the northern Agean Sea. The island was important in wine trade and also controlled rich gold and silver mines on the mainland. It was colonized at an early date by Phoenicians who founded a temple to the god Melqart, whom the Greeks identified as “Tyrian Heracles.” The temple still existed in the time of Herodotus. -- source link

More pics about