Coin: Tetradrachma, Naxos, Forgery

This Greek coin is perhaps a forgery of a Tetradrachm from Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades in the southwestern part of the Aegean Sea. If not a forgery, it was struck in the mid to late 5th century BCE. The obverse contains a profile of a bearded head of Dionysus, the Greek god of grapes and therefore wine. The reverse is a naked Silenos, the teacher of Dionysus, squatting face forward holding a katharos, a deep cup, in his right hand and a thyrsus, an ancient Greek lyre, in his left hand. To the right of Silenos are the letters ΝΑΞΙΟΝ (Nu Alpha Xi Iota Omicron Nu) denoting the coin is from Naxos.