PAPHLAGONIA. Kromna. Circa 360-330 BC. Tetrobol (Silver, 15 mm, 3.58 g, 12 h), Persic standard. Laureate head of Zeus to left. Rev. ΚΡΩΜΝΑ Head of Hera to left, wearing turreted stephane adorned with palmette and scrolls, triple pendant earring and pearl necklace; in field to left, monogram; in field to right, rose. M.-M. Bendenoun: Les Monnaies de l'Antiquité. Splendeurs et Témoignages. Geneva 2008, p. 121, 2 (this coin). HGC 7, 369 var. (differing symbol). RG 1 var. (no rose). SNG Ashmolean -. SNG BM Black Sea -, cf. 1323 (no rose). SNG Paris -, cf. 390 (no rose). SNG von Aulock -. Apparently unique with the rose symbol. Beautifully toned and of fine style, a wonderful coin. Some edge splits and with very minor weakness on the reverse, otherwise, extremely fine.



Little is known about the history of Kromna. Homer mentions the city in the Iliad, while Strabo records that it was founded as a colony of Miletos. Around 300 BC, Amastris, queen of Herakleia Pontika, resettled its inhabitants in her newly established eponymous city. Kromna itself then disappears from the historical record, suggesting that the settlement fell within the immediate territory of the new Amastris.

The only coins struck by Kromna are drachms and hemidrachms struck to the Chian standard, along with a handful of bronzes, all datable to the late Achaemenid period. Particularly striking is the exceptional quality of the die engraving visible on the silver issues: the Zeus heads of Kromna - of which our specimen is a superb example - rank among the most impressive renderings of the supreme god in all of Greek coinage. Stylistically, they appear to have been strongly influenced by the gold staters of Lampsakos, with which Kromna must have maintained close commercial ties.

Of special note on our coin is the unique small rose placed behind the head of Hera. Its significance remains uncertain: the motif recalls the emblematic Rhodian rose, yet whether this suggests any connection with the great island polis - and if so, whether on the civic level or merely through the moneyer - remains unresolved.