320-280 BCE
17.81mm 4.81g
Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena left
Reverse: ITANIΩN, eagle standing right, head reverted, Triton holding trident in the right field
SNG Copenhagen 475
Itanos was located on the far east of Crete and until recently its location was unknown. Since then, a great deal of research and digging has occurred, and the site may be visited by tourists.
During Hellenistic times, Itanos was a very powerful city. It was by legend founded in the 9th century BCE by Itanos, son of Phoenix. Its chief rivals were Praisos and Hierapytna. Itanos became wealthy through the trade of purple dye, highly valued by everyone at the time, exctracted from mollusks.
Athena was the main deity of the city and had a temple on the acropolis. Triton, depicted on this coin next to the eagle, was a strange sea monster that was reported in other cities. In mythology, he was described as a child of Poseidon and Amphitrite and is often portrayed as a merman, though not so much on this coin.
The excavations that have occurred in Itanos have been extremely important and have shed light on many practices from the period, especially concerning burial practices.