Æ20

Olympia's civic coinage is closely tied to the administration of the Sanctuary of Zeus and the Elean officials who managed it — the city of Elis controlled the site and its mint throughout the Hellenistic period. Bronze issues of this size and weight range were almost certainly used within the sanctuary's economic orbit, where large numbers of pilgrims, athletes, and vendors converged every four years for the Games, generating demand for small-denomination exchange that silver coinage could not efficiently serve.