Side, Pamphylia AR Drachm, Kleuch, 183-175 BC, Athena/Nike, pomegranate

Side, Pamphylia, drachm, silver, under the magistrate Kleuch, 183–175 BC, 3.96 g, 17 mm. Anepigraphic obverse with helmeted head of Athena right, wearing a crested Corinthian helmet. Reverse KΛ-ΕY; Nike advancing left, holding wreath; pomegranate to left. Struck at Side under the authority of the magistrate Kleuch, his name abbreviated across the field. References: SNG BN 728–729; SNG Fitzwilliam 5102.

This civic silver belongs to Side’s post-Apamean autonomous coinage, issued under named magistrates during the early second century BC as the city flourished as a maritime trading hub on the south coast of Asia Minor. The pomegranate serves as Side’s emblem, a canting type linked to the city’s name, while the Athena and Nike imagery follows Hellenistic convention and reflects the military and civic ideals favored by Pamphylian mints in the period of waning Seleucid influence and growing Roman presence.