Ancient Archaic Period - 480-450 BCE Troas, Abydus AR Drachm NGC XF

From the Faces in Time Collection of Ancient coinage (18).

TROAS. Abydus. Circa 480-450 BC. AR drachm (19mm, 3.31 gm, 11h). Obverse: ΑΒΥΔ-[HN]ON, eagle standing left, wings folded. Reverse: Facing gorgoneion with protruding tongue, within a shallow incuse square. This coin was struck around the time of the Persian wars. BMC Troas pg. 1, 1. SNG Copenhagen 3. SNG Munich 3. Rare piece. Pleasing and attractive golden brown patina. NGC XF 4/5 - 3/5. edge marks. 

The city of Abydus (also known as Abydos) is discussed in the Iliad as an ally of Troy, and according to Strabo, was defeated and occupied by Bebryces and the Thracians after the Trojan War. Scholars suggest that Abydos was first a Phoenician colony and that there was a temple of Aphrodite Porne (Aphrodite the Harlot) within the city.

Abydos was originally settled by Milesian colonists simultaneously with the establishment of the cities Priapos and Prokonnesos in circa 670 BC. Strabo tells us that Gyges, the King of Lydia, allowed the Milesians to settle Abydos. However, it is argued that this "settlement" was in fact done by Milesian mercenaries to serve as a garrison to thwart Thracian raids in Asia Minor. Later Abydos became a leading center for the exportation of tuna due to the high yield of the fish in the Hellespont, the narrow passageway between the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, which has come to be called the Dardanelles.