Troas, Zeleia Hemidrachm Ca. 500-400 BC

Troas, Zeleia.
Ca. 500-400 BC.
Hemidrachm (Silver, 9 mm, 1.96 g).

Obv: Elements of chimaera: combining a lion's head with open jaws, stag, and dragon (?), joined together at center and radiating outward.
Rev: Facing head of a gorgon, with snaky hair and a protruding tongue; all within incuse square.

Reference: SNG Arikantürk 796–7 (obols); Boston MFA 2325; M. Six, "Monnaies grecques, inédites et incertaines" in NC 1890, p. 235, 16.

Zeleia was an ancient city of the Troad near Mount Ida, strategically placed between inland Mysia and the Propontis. Its early silver coinage is notable for distinctive mythological imagery, including the chimaera and Gorgoneion. The city later came under Persian influence and served as the gathering place of Achaemenid forces before the Battle of the Granicus in 334 BC, where Alexander began his conquest of Asia Minor.

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