Phokis issued federal bronze coinage during a period when the Amphictyonic League — the religious council controlling Delphi — was dominated by Phokian interests. That arrangement collapsed violently when Phokis seized the sanctuary itself in 356 BC, triggering the Third Sacred War. Coinage attributed to the years just before that seizure carries an awkward historical irony: the issuing authority was about to be excommunicated by the very institution it had been administering.
SNG Copenhagen 113 provides the standard reference for this type, with the Copenhagen collection specimen remaining the primary comparative anchor for attribution.
Phokis issued federal bronze coinage during a period when the Amphictyonic League — the religious council controlling Delphi — was dominated by Phokian interests. That arrangement collapsed violently when Phokis seized the sanctuary itself in 356 BC, triggering the Third Sacred War. Coinage attributed to the years just before that seizure carries an awkward historical irony: the issuing authority was about to be excommunicated by the very institution it had been administering.
SNG Copenhagen 113 provides the standard reference for this type, with the Copenhagen collection specimen remaining the primary comparative anchor for attribution.