Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Æ
| Issuer | Olbia |
|---|---|
| Year | 160 BC - 150 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Hammered |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A dolphin swimming left, depicted with naturalistic curvature, occupies the center of the field. The Greek ethnic inscription OΛBIO arcs above the dolphin, while the abbreviation ΒΑ appears in large bold letters in the lower field below. The legends are boldly struck in a simple, monumental style consistent with Olbian civic bronze issues of the mid-second century BC. |
| Reverse script | Greek |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Olbia, the Greek colony at the mouth of the Hypanis river on the Black Sea's northern shore, had an unusually long and independent civic coinage tradition — remarkable for a city that endured repeated Scythian pressure and, by the mid-second century BC, was operating under conditions of significant political stress. This small bronze belongs to a phase when Olbia's autonomous output was contracting, likely a consequence of demographic and economic strain following the destructive raid attributed to the Galatian king Brennus's successors and ongoing steppe incursions.
Frolova and Abramzon's 2019 corpus remains the authoritative reference for this series, having substantially reorganized die groupings previously scattered across Anokhin and Sear.