The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society

CHRONOLOGY OF THE COINS OF CHIOS. 421
the conservative rule I have chosen to follow demands
it. The absence of a hemidrachm from the series with
names has already been noted, and marks a break that
may have been of longer duration than mere appearances
suggest. Another noteworthy point, supporting
the attribution of this type No. 50 to at least as late
a date as the tetradrachms of class /?, is that the
lettering on the coins seems to indicate a period of
transition. Looked at as a whole, the lettering is less
archaic than that of any of the tetradrachms even
those of class y, with their accompanying drachms and
of some of the bronze. M takes the two forms M and
M, and N is always N, fl is always P, but Z is as often
Z as ,
has the form already noted 4>. It is a pity
that none of these test letters occurs on the drachms
and hemidrachms of types Nos. 39-45.
The curiously worked field of the reverses is also
a distinctive feature of this type. It can be traced
back without a break to the artificially granulated
ground of type No. 37. It is never seen on the tetra-
drachms of classes a and /?, which followed a separate
line of development, though no doubt derived from
the same source. It appears only once, so far as I have
observed, on the tetradrachms of class y, but, as will
be noted when they come to be discussed, it was
probably an archaism in that case. This artificially
to these drachms of
granulated surface is peculiar
Chios, the nearest approach in any other Greek series
being the similarly
treated reverses of certain issues
at Teos. 70 The proximity of the two cities naturally
adds to the interest of the resemblance.
70 Brit. Mus., Nos. 24-5, Cat. Ionia, Teos.