The coinage of Apollonia and Dyrrhachium

Drachms: Chronological classes

18 March 2021

Contents of this page

Introduction
Dyrrhachium
Apollonia
Conclusions
Literature references

1. Introduction

The chronological classification of the Greeek-Illyrian silver drachms is based on specific features, which apply to all issues within the same class. Each consequent class develops from the previous one. The classification is different in the two city states but there are common features:

Obverse: cow suckling calf with name in nominative case above cow.
Reverse: Double stellate pattern in double sided square; legend in the segments around square clockwise, starting with ethnic attribute Apol or Dyr, followed by name in genitive case in three parts.

Occasionally, issue-specific characteristics occur but the class-specific features prevail to help class identification.

2. Dyrrhachium

Cow stands to right; line border on reverse. From the beginning, there can be several obverse names coupled with a given reverse name, that is, different name combinations (emissions) appear within the same issue. If symbols or monograms are there on the obverse, these, too, belong to the name on the reverse. A certain name on the reverse with a different set of symbols on the obverse means a different issue, which may be very distant from each other in time; most probably different people of the same name.

The Dyrrhachian classification is simple and is based on features visible on the obverse. There are five Dyrrhachian drachma classes, from D1 to D5.

Class D1
- Obverse name abbreviated or monogramatic
- No border
- No exergue
- No symbol
Class D2
- Full obverse name
- Border of dots
- Animals stand on exergue line
- No symbols
Class D3
- Symbol or monogram in exergue
Class D4
- Multiple symbols
Class D5
- Reduced number of obverse names per issue

The specific class features can be seen on sample coins in the following table:

Class D1 210-176 BC	Obverse name abbreviated. No exergue
	1a	Abstract style
	1b	Classic style
Class D2 175-145 BC	Full obverse name. Exergue line. No symbols
Class D3 144-93 BC	Symbol in exergue
Class D4 92-60 BC	Multiple symbols
Class D5 59-48 BC	As in Class 4 but only one or two obverse names with the same reverse

(Back to the top of this page ↑)

3. Apollonia

Despite the first three Apolloniate drachma classes show similarities with the Dyrrhachian classes D1-D3; thereafter the classification is fundamentally different. The class-specific changes affect both sides of the drachms. First, the cow turned to left, then the sides of square became inward-bending, later the V-connected alpha became strait connected (A); symbols disappeared, and finally, the usual drumstick-shape rays became petals. All these in a so far unexplained, but easily observable manner, which I discovered by meticulous comparison of hoard contents and the follow-up of these style matters (see in chapter Research methods. class identification requires the observation of both sides.

Despite these visible differences in the look of drachmas, their weight remained standard, and were hoarded intermixed with the Dyrrhachian ones as before, testifying their equal acceptance and circulation for a very long time. Only in the very last phase of the drachma minting, when the coin weight was gradually diminished, and this was more expressed in Apollonia, the hoards tend to contain drachms overwhelmingly from one of the two towns. (measuring weight is those times was rather precise). The style difference made separation easy: cow left with inward bending sides = Apollonia. The earlier coins had already been out of circulation for decades.

There are seven Apolloniate coin classes (A1-A7) with additional mnemonic letters and numbers pointing at the specific feature in which a particular class differs from the previous one. The class determining characteristics are these:

Cow standing to right (R) or left (L)
Obverse name abbreviated or full
Sides of square straight (s) or concave (c)
Type of alpha V (1) or A (2)
Shape of rays drumstick (a) or petal (b)

The seven classes of the Apolloniate drachms are these:

A1R1
- Cow standing to right with calf kneeling on both front legs
- Abbreviated or monogramatic name
- No border
- No symbols
- Straight sides of square
A2R2
- Full name
A3R3
- Symbol or monogram in exergue
A4Ls
- Cow to left
- Calf half kneeling
- Straight sides of square
- Border of dots
A5Lc1
- Concave sides of square
- Symbols
- V-alpha
A6Lc2a
- No symbols but occasional monogram in exergue
- A-alpha
- Drumstick rays
A7Lc2b

Petal rays

The table helps understand the nested nature of the Apolloniate drachma classes:

COW TO RIGHT
Class A1R1 166-147 BC	Obverse name abbreviated
	A1R1a	No exergue
	A1R1b	Animals stand on invisible line
	A1R1c	Animals stand on exergue line
Class A2R2 146-95 BC	Full obverse name. No symbols
Class A3R3 94-86 BC	Symbols or monograms on obverse
COW TO LEFT
Class A4Ls 85-82 BC	Straight sides of square
Lc	Concave sides of square
	Class A5Lc1 81-60 BC	Symbols on the obverse. V-type alpha
	Lc2	No symbols. A-type alpha
		Class A6Lc2a 59-54 BC	Drumstick-shape rays
		Class A7Lc2b 53-48 BC	Petal-shape rays

(Back to the top of this page ↑)

Conclusions

This chronology is still tentative; the beginning depends on the number of known issues, and may change by the discovery of so far unknown issues, or, in the opposite direction, by the exclusion of erroneously identified issues.

I am going to check how the subdivisions of Class D1 and Class A1R1 influence the relative sequence of the issues within the earliest hoards. However, in general, those several coincidences in the suggested chronology with historical facts during the later classes point at the validity of the proposed chronology based on the compact model hypothesis and the style classification; and help date other coins and archaeological objects found together with the drachms.

The majority of coins found in the N-E Balkan area belong to the later phase of the drachma production (D4-D5 and A6-A7); these coins can be differentiated by a glimpse: cow to left = Apollonia, cow to right = Dyrrhachium. Many drachms in the last periods show signs of a blown up, hasty coin production: irregular flans, flat struck or grossly off-centre pieces; only parts of the legends are visible. Such coins could only be identified from a proper catalogue but for Apollonia, so far none has been published. If time allows, more and more information will be added to this page on the different coin emissions and their characteristics.

Most probable points of the proposed chronology:

The drachms were produced between 210-48 BC; with a delayed start in Apollonia
They arrived in the North-East Balkan area only for a short period when the Roman Republican denarii were is short supply between 59-48 BC
The five-year gap between the two phases of hoarding of the drachms in the North-East Balkans suggests Burebista's interference between 61-57 BC.

(Back to the top of this page ↑)

Literature references

Petrányi, G.: Cow/calf type Greek-Illyrian drachms: Problems and facts. In: Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Numismatic History and Economy in Epirus during antiquity. Kerma 3 (2013) 77-86 + Pl. 9.
Petrányi, G. On the position of the Aibatios/Chairenos issue in the sequence of Apollonian drachms. Studii şi cercetari de numismatica 11 (1995) 59-63.