Drachma from Rhodes

This drachma from Rhodes features Helios in profile wearing a crown on the front, and the back shows a budding rose with a cluster of grapes and the letter P on the left, the letter O on the right and the word MAHΣ at the top.

This drachma does not follow the Attic standard. Instead, it is a plinthophoric drachma, which weighed slightly less. This was due to a monetary system reform that took place in Caria around 190 BCE, resulting in the standard weights of coins changing. The word plinthophoric comes from the Greek word plinthos (πλίνθος), which refers to the square recess on the back of the coin.

Helios was the patron god of Rhodes. After the Egyptians failed to occupy the island in the 4th century, a huge statue of Helios was erected in the city of Rhodes, known as the Colossus of Rhodes. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and, for example, the geographer Strabo and Roman author Pliny the Elder wrote about it in their works. The name of the island came from the ancient Greek word for rose, ῥόδον (rhodón). This is why there is a rose on the back.