Adiras, Thrace
405-340 BCE
Æ 10 mm, 1,68 g
obv: front part of a female head l
rev: ΑΔ horizontally on top. Conical vessel with two handles under initials
Topalov 2005 p13 9.1
For some time, it was a mystery what the ‘AD’ on this coin stood for. Was it the abbreviation for some unknown king? Thanks to the Bulgarian researcher Stavri Topalov, we have a very strong guess. This is an abbreviation for Adiras, a city in Thrace. It’s also known as Athyras. While some of the coins were minted for rulers, others were minted for a particular city. A few listed both a city and a ruler.
Adiras was one of the capitals of the Odrysians and the city was located along the similarly named Athyras river. We know very little more about it.
Relevant Resources
Link
textsUrban Bronze Coins of Small Denomination from Odrysian Kings 5th-4th centuries B.C. by Stavri Topalov