Hemidrachm: Bull's Head (obverse); Head of Artemis (reverse) (c. 485–480 BCE): Art, History and Details

Hemidrachm: Bull's Head (obverse); Head of Artemis (reverse) (c. 485–480 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The head of a bull, its characteristic star-like fur and bulbous eyes particularly noticeable, dominates the obverse of this coin. On the reverse is Artemis, whose hair is curled back in the krobylos style using a hairnet. The unusual lines above Artemis’s nose and below her chin suggest that the reverse may have been struck with the same design twice.

Object facts

• Title: Hemidrachm: Bull's Head (obverse); Head of Artemis (reverse)
• Date: c. 485–480 BCE
• Culture: Greek, probably minted at Phokikon (Phokis)
• Type: Coins
• Technique: silver
• Dimensions: Diameter: 1.4 cm (9/16 in.)
• Collection: GR - Greek
• Department: Greek and Roman Art
• Accession number: 1916.983

A detail from the museum

The punches in Artemis’s neck were probably made to check the metal quality.

Collection credit

Gift of J. H. Wade

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.